A catastrophic fire, which started on Tuesday, January 21, 2025 at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, a renowned ski resort in Bolu province, northwestern Turkey, resulted in 79 fatalities and dozens of injuries, according to official reports.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya expressed his sorrow over the tragic incident to reporters, stating, “We are in deep pain. We have unfortunately lost 79 lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel.”
The fire ignited at 3:27 a.m. in the fourth-floor restaurant of the 12-story hotel, which was accommodating 238 guests during a school break. The hotel’s remote, cliff-side position and freezing weather delayed emergency response teams, which arrived at 4:15 a.m.
Guest Atakan Yelkovan, who was staying on the third floor, recalled to a local news agency, “My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off. We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t; there were flames. We went downstairs and came here.”
Governor Abdulaziz Aydin verified that two casualties occurred due to panicked individuals jumping from the building. Other guests endeavored to escape by descending from their rooms with sheets and blankets. However, some of these makeshift ropes failed, causing fatal falls. “People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets … some tried to jump,” recounted Yelkovan.
Firefighters encountered significant difficulties reaching the back of the hotel, located on a cliff in the Koroglu mountains. The hotel’s design and location hindered rescue efforts, as fire engines could not reach all sides of the structure. Television footage showed multiple floors engulfed in flames and thick smoke billowing from the upper stories.
NTV television reported that the hotel’s exterior wooden cladding, designed in a traditional chalet style, may have accelerated the fire’s spread. The hotel’s fire detection system did not function, leaving many guests unaware of the danger until they saw the fire or smelled smoke.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu stated that one injured individual is in critical condition. Seventeen of the injured have been released from hospitals, while others are still receiving treatment in Bolu’s medical facilities.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor, assisted in the evacuation of 20 guests after being awakened by the fire. Speaking to NTV television, he said, “I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK.” He described the dense smoke hampering guests’ attempts to find fire escapes.
Six prosecutors have been assigned to investigate the disaster. Eleven people, including the hotel’s owner, have been detained in relation to the incident. The Justice Minister has confirmed the appointment of multiple prosecutors to determine the cause of the fire.
The Kartalkaya resort, situated 185 miles east of Istanbul in the Koroglu mountains, attracts many visitors during winter. At the time of the fire, the resort was operating at full capacity due to the school semester break.
