INTERNATIONAL #Turkey
9 people have been arrested over the fire in Turkey, Interior Minister Ali Gerlikaya said in a statement.
He added that the death toll had risen to 76 and that the search would continue tomorrow as it got dark.
It is recalled that a fire broke out in the early hours of Tuesday in a hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort in the province of Bolu in northwestern Turkey, according to the latest information from the Minister of the Interior, Ali Gerlikaya.
In more detail, he said:
"52 bodies were found here under the coordination of the provincial health directorate. The bodies of 45 dead citizens were handed over to their families. We could not identify the others. DNA identification and detection studies are carried out at the Forensic Institute. The bodies will be handed over to their families once they are done quickly. The Ministry of Justice informed us. The Bolu General Prosecutor and 5 general prosecutors and experts are working on the cause of the fire, negligence and fault. Due to the incident, 9 people were arrested. We will complete this administrative investigation within 10 days at most. Our chief inspectors have arrived. The entire operation from the first day of this hotel until today is examined in great detail. Please know that any flaws or omissions in due process will be revealed at the end of the administrative investigation and will be shared with our beloved nation as stated by our honorable president. After the Council of Ministers, a day of national mourning was declared. 85 million of us are brokenhearted. We are in mourning, but know that whoever is responsible for causing this pain will never be able to escape the justice that decides on behalf of the Turkish nation.
Tomorrow, our AFAD expert teams will do their final scans. It got dark. This work has been going on non-stop since last night. I would like to state that our Governor in Bolu, the Prosecutor General of Bolu, all public bodies and organizations in Bolu, people and officials from neighboring provinces and AFAD are working with great experience, patience and perseverance. I thank each and every one of them."
The developments that took place earlier
The Minister of Justice, Yilmaz Tunc, had earlier announced that 4 people, among them the owner of the Grand Kartal hotel, were arrested and detained after the deadly fire.
The fire at the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel, which is located in the well-known winter tourism destination of Kartalkaya, about 300 km west of Istanbul and 180 km from Ankara, broke out at 3:27 am. At that time most of the hotel's customers were in their rooms and the flames found them sleeping, which is estimated to have increased the number of victims.
In videos posted on social media, people can be heard desperately calling for help: "We can't get down", "how are we going to get down, help us". "Where's the fire department! Save us! Help us."
#Yangın #Otel #Kartalkaya pic.twitter.com/qnMJ7vBx1S
— İhlas Haber Ajansı (@ihacomtr) January 21, 2025
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear, but authorities will investigate, Gerlikaya said earlier, adding that the fire broke out on the restaurant's floor. There were 234 guests in the hotel.
Bolu Kartalkaya'da büyük otel yangını. It is said that the dead and wounded. İtfaiye ekipleri yangını süftemek için seferberlik ilan eşikşı sıldı. pic.twitter.com/Lche5el3ww
— Gebze Yenigün Gazetesi (@gebzeyenigun41) January 21, 2025
It is possible that it is due to a gas leak or a short circuit.
At the time of the fire, there were 237 guests in the hotel, according to the prefect of Bolou, Abdulaziz Aydin.
In the images shown, it appears that the fire quickly engulfed the hotel and completely destroyed it. The fact that the building had wooden cladding on its walls contributed to the rapid spread of the fire. Authorities have warned of the risk of the building collapsing.
According to complaints, the hotel did not have a water-based fire extinguishing system that activates automatically in the event of a fire and the alarm did not sound. The initial information that it did not even have external escape stairs in case of fire was denied by Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, who cited a relevant certificate from the Fire Service.
It is also complained that there is no fire station in Kartalkaya, which is one of the most important ski resorts, relatively close to Istanbul and Ankara. The nearest Fire Service station is one hour and 15 minutes away.
Erdogan: Responsibilities will be assigned
Responsibility will be assigned for the fire that broke out early Tuesday at a hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort in northwestern Turkey's Bolu province, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, speaking at the AK Party's 8th Regular Provincial Congress in Ankara.
In more detail, he said that "unfortunately, we received very sad news this morning. We had brothers who died and were injured. I wish God's mercy to those who lost their lives and a speedy recovery to the injured. We have sent our ministers to Bolu to carry out and coordinate the necessary work by the Government of Bolu and the Presidency of AFAD regular extinguishing efforts have been launched and an administrative and judicial investigation has been launched into the cause in order to hold those responsible from behind".
The Turkish president said that a judicial and administrative investigation has been launched into the causes of the fire. He also clarified that six prosecutors, two inspectors of the Public Administration, four inspectors of the Ministry of Labor and a five-member committee of experts have been appointed for this purpose. Four government ministers also rushed to the spot.
"In the first stage, four people were arrested, including the owner of the business where the tragedy happened. I say this clearly and unequivocally once and for all: Those who caused such a disaster, those who showed negligence and culpability, will be held accountable before the law," said Tayyip Erdogan.
Furthermore, Erdogan announced twenty-four hours of national mourning.
Source: skai.gr
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