Fire in hotel in Turkey: 66 dead! Guests jumped out of the window

Dramatic scenes from the fire disaster in Turkey.

A fire at a hotel in a ski resort in northwest Turkey killed 66 people. 51 others were injured, said Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya (56). As the Turkish broadcaster NTV reports, the facade of the hotel is broken, which is why the fire spread particularly quickly.

Videos show how people tried to escape the windows at night by tying their sheets together. An eyewitness told the newspaper “Hürriyet” that he saw people jumping out of the window.

The number of victims has risen sharply in the last few hours. On Tuesday morning, the authorities were still talking about ten deaths. According to the state news agency Anadolu, the fire broke out during the night for reasons that are still unclear.

Fire brigade battles hotel fire in Turkey

30 fire brigade vehicles and 28 ambulances were sent to the scene. Pictures show how the roof and upper floors burned. A reporter from CNN Türk said that strong winds were making the fire-fighting work more difficult. The emergency services continued to fight the flames in the morning.

Hotel in the ski area was fully occupied

Due to the heavy smoke, it was difficult to find the stairs to the emergency exit. According to “Hürriyet”, the hotel was fully occupied and 234 people stayed there.

▶︎ In the Türkiye are currently school holidays. The Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu Province is popular with locals