Bolu (Türkiye): As many as 66 people have been killed and 51 others were left injured after a massive fire that broke out at a hotel in Kartalkaya ski resort in northern Türkiye, local authorities said on Tuesday.
The fire broke out at around 00:27 GMT in the restaurant area of the hotel, quickly engulfing the building, according to Bolu Governor Abdulaziz Aydin.
Emergency teams from neighboring cities, including firefighters, disaster response units, and medical teams supported by helicopters were dispatched to the scene.
Authorities evacuated around 230 guests from the hotel as firefighting efforts continued, official Anadolu Agency reported.
Aome guests tried to escape their rooms by using bed sheets to climb down, according to private broadcaster NTV.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire broke out and rushed out of the building soon later.
He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire exit.
He somehow helped around 20 guests out of the hotel, he told NTV television.
Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.
Witnesses and reports said the hotel’s fire detection system failed to operate.
“My wife smelt the burning. The alarm did not go off,” Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor of the hotel, told the IHA news agency.
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