As a result of the fire that broke out on Tuesday night in a hotel in a mountain resort in central Turkey, 66 people died, and another 51 were injured and later rescued. Turkey's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated that the number of casualties rose to 66 people, with one of them in critical condition.
Video recordings show fire brigades battling the fire and smoke that engulfed the 11-story building. The governor of the Bolu province, Abdulaziz Aydin, reported that the fire started in the hotel's restaurant in the Kartalkaya mountain resort at 3:30 AM local time.
Minister Yerlikaya confirmed that 76 people died, of which 52 have already been identified. According to him, the fire has been localized, and operations to extinguish it continue. At the moment of the fire outbreak at the 'Grand Kartal' hotel, there were 238 guests, located 170 km east of Ankara.
Turkish media report that the fire quickly spread throughout the wooden building, leading to a massive plume of thick smoke. The cause of the fire has not yet been established, but survivors expressed their indignation and condemned the negligence.
The tragedy occurred at the beginning of the school holidays across the country, which lasts two weeks. During this time, usually, tourists from Istanbul and Ankara head to the Bolu mountains. Authorities have begun investigating the causes of the fire.
