A fire broke out in a hotel in Turkey, killing at least 66 people and injuring dozens

Istanbul, Turkey – A fire gutted a hotel in a ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, killing at least 66 people and injuring 32, the interior minister said. Eyewitnesses said the desperate guests tried to escape using ropes, while the video shows bed sheets hanging from the windows. Media reports indicated that some people died after trying to jump to safety.

“Our pain is great,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters in the resort town of Kartalkaya, about 100 kilometers northwest of the capital Ankara. “66 citizens lost their lives and 51 others were injured.”

Some members of the cabinet also arrived at the scene of the disaster and said that the fire had been contained. The fire broke out at 3:27 a.m. (7:27 p.m. Monday Eastern) at the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel, which has wooden floors, Yerlikaya previously told X.

Local media reported that at least 230 people were staying at the hotel, a peak during the two-week school holidays.

Turkish authorities arrested four people, including the hotel owner, “as part of an investigation led by six prosecutors,” Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said in a social media post.

A private NTV broadcaster said the dead included three people who threw themselves from the hotel windows.

The fire is believed to have started in the restaurant and quickly spread, although it is not yet clear what caused it.

Part of the hotel backs onto a cliff, which made it difficult for firefighters to fight the blaze.

Video broadcast on Turkish television showed huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky and a snow-capped mountain behind the hotel.

“I heard screams at midnight, residents (of the hotel) screaming for help,” Baris Salgur, who works at a nearby hotel, told NTV television. “They asked for a blanket and said they were going to jump… we did everything we could, we brought a rope, pillows, and a sofa. Others threw themselves when the flames got close to them.”

Officials said they feared the death toll could rise.

The video showed a shattered hotel lobby with shards of glass on the floor, a reception desk and wooden furniture inside a burnt black interior.

Authorities warned the building could collapse.

A survivor who managed to escape the flames told local media that there were no alarms going off in the hotel when the fire started, lamenting the lack of safety measures such as fire escapes or smoke detectors.

“I pray for God’s mercy for our citizens who lost their lives in the fire,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in X.

He said he wished a speedy recovery for those injured in “this terrible accident”, adding that an investigation has been launched.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said six prosecutors were assigned to investigate the fire.

Those who were evacuated were resettled in nearby hotels.