North News
New Delhi, January 21
A devastating fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the Kartalkaya Ski Resort in northwestern Turkey has claimed at least 66 lives and left 51 others injured. The blaze broke out in the early hours of Tuesday, around 3:00 a.m. local time, trapping guests in the 12-story building, which was built into a rock face, complicating firefighting efforts, according to media reports.
According to the news outlet CNN, eyewitnesses described a chaotic scene, with desperate holidaymakers attempting to escape by jumping from windows as flames engulfed the upper floors. “It was so bad. Everybody was jumping out of the windows with the fear of death, and people were so ashamed as there were no fire extinguishers around,” one witness recounted, the news outlet said. Footage from the aftermath showed wreaths of gray smoke swirling around the charred building.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed the tragedy during a press conference, revealing that many victims, including children, likely succumbed to suffocation, the news outlet ABCNews reported. The fire’s cause remains under investigation. Efforts to control the blaze were hindered by the hotel’s location on a rock face, adding to the complexity of rescue operations, the news outlet said.
