4 Arrested After Fire at Popular Ski Resort that Reportedly Killed at Least 76

Four people have been arrested in connection with a fire at a ski resort in northwestern Turkey that reportedly killed at least 76 people and injured at least 51 early on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

The owner of the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya is one of the four arrested, Turkish Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç announced on X. 

The blaze started at around 3:30 a.m. local time Tuesday morning at the establishment in Bolu province’s Köroğlu Mountains area, the Associated Press reported, citing local authorities.

Witnesses and officials described a horrific scene of people jumping out windows.

“I saw a father with his baby in his arms asking for pillows so he could throw down his son,” a hotel employee told the news agency IHA, per CBS 19. “Luckily he waited for the emergency services who saved them.”

The employee, who did not provide his name, said two women on the top floor, which was hosting students, jumped out and died.

“My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off,” Atakan Yelkovan, a guest at the hotel told the news agency IHA, per the AP. “We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t, there were flames. We went downstairs and came [outside].”

“People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets … Some tried to jump,” Yelkovan said.

Eylem Senturk, another guest, said she was able to escape with her daughter but her husband was stuck, CBS 19 reported, citing an interview with the Anadolu news agency. He was reportedly able to jump from the window to a safety roof.

The hotel had more than 230 guests at the time of the fire, Minister Ali Yerlikaya said, per the AP.

It wasn’t immediately clear if any U.S. citizens were at the resort or were affected by the fire. The U.S. Consulate in Istanbul did not mention any such information in its latest statement, posted on Tuesday evening, where the office expressed its condolences for the incident and victims.

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A cause for the fire has not been announced as of the publishing of this report. Bolu governor Abdulaziz Aydin said it likely broke out in the restaurant section and spread, the BBC reported.

The distance between the hotel and the city center, as well as the frigid weather, slowed the firefighters’ response to the scene, Bolu said. Nearly 270 emergency services personnel reportedly came to the scene.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced a national day of mourning for Wednesday, while reiterating that those responsible will be held accountable.

“Every stage of the investigation is carried out with great care and sensitivity,” justice minister Tunç said.