Category - True crime
Multiple Arrests Made Following Deadly Hotel Fire at Ski Resort
Turkish authorities have made multiple arrests following Tuesday’s deadly fire at a ski resort in the Bolu mountains, Al Jazeera reported.
So far, nine people including the resort’s owner have been arrested in connection with the fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel, located in the Kartalkaya ski resort. The blaze killed 76 people and injured more than 50 after it broke out around 3:30 a.m. local time on Jan. 21. Due to the resort’s isolated location and freezing weather conditions, it took emergency responders more than an hour to arrive at the scene. Early reports indicated that the fire began in the hotel’s restaurant on the fourth floor of the 12-story structure.
Related: At Least 66 Dead, 51 Injured in Fire at Popular Ski Resort
The arrests were announced Wednesday by Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. Six prosecutors have been appointed to investigate the incident, with questions about the hotel’s safety protocols already in the spotlight. Survivors claimed they heard no smoke alarms during the fire and were not aided by any staff, instead forced to push past one another in smoke-filled, pitch-black hallways to find an exit. Several guests died after jumping from the hotel’s windows, and witnesses reported seeing white sheets dangling from the windows of several rooms. It’s estimated that at least 20 of the victims were children. The hotel said it will fully cooperate with the investigation, saying they are “deeply saddened by the losses.”
Wednesday was declared a national day of mourning in the country as funerals began for some of those who died in the fire. Forty-five of the deceased have been returned to their family members. The remaining bodies are still undergoing DNA testing to determine their identities.
“Our hearts are broken. We are in mourning,” Yerlikaya said on Wednesday. “But you should know that whoever is responsible for causing this pain will not escape justice,” he vowed.