In brief
At least 10 individuals have lost their lives and another 32 have sustained injuries following a devastating fire at a ski resort hotel in Bolu Province, Turkey, during the busy winter school holiday.
The blaze erupted at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the early hours of Tuesday, around 3:30 a.m. local time, while many guests were asleep. With the winter break attracting numerous families to the slopes, the fire created a harrowing scene as guests struggled to escape. Eyewitness accounts describe frantic efforts to evacuate, with some individuals using makeshift ropes made from bedsheets to navigate to safety on lower floors.The precise cause of the fire remains unknown, but images captured from the scene show thick plumes of smoke rising from the hotel, set against a backdrop of snow-covered mountains. Emergency services, including dozens of rescuers and multiple fire trucks, were quickly dispatched from nearby towns to combat the flames.Necmi Kepcetutan, a skiing instructor employed at the hotel, recounted the chaos, recalling how he saw the fire engulf the restaurant's fourth floor. He and others aided as many guests as possible in their escape, but he highlighted the challenge posed by the dense smoke, which made it difficult to reach some stranded guests. “People were screaming to be rescued,” he described, as the reality of the dangerous situation unfolded. This tragedy has deeply affected the local community, with investigations ongoing into the cause of the fire and efforts to support those impacted.
