ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least 76 people died and tens were injured on Tuesday in a fire that engulfed a ski resort hotel in the Bolu province of northern Turkey, said the interior minister.
“The judicial investigation launched by the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the hotel fire in Bolu Kartalkaya, where 66 of our citizens lost their lives, is being carried out meticulously and from multiple perspectives,” Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc wrote on X.
Tunc added that a judicial investigation initiated by the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office is ongoing with six prosecutors and a committee of five experts to determine the cause of the blaze, highlighting “Within the scope of the investigation to which our 6 public prosecutors were assigned, four people, including the business owner, were detained.”
The interior minister told reporters hours later that a total of nine people have been detained in relation to the blaze, adding that the death toll has risen to 76.
The source of the fire at Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu was a restaurant near the hotel, which led to the engulfing of the whole building, Bolu Governor Abdulaziz Aydin was reported as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Over 50 people were injured in the blaze. Response units were dispatched to the scene where 230 guests were evacuated, according to the state media.
“We have been following closely from the very beginning through our relevant institutions and for which investigations have been immediately initiated,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote on X.
Following a cabinet meeting, he said that "Those responsible for such a disaster, those who are negligent and at fault, will be held accountable in court."
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in separate statements that they were "saddened" by the deadly blaze, offering their condolences to the families of the victims.
The US embassy in Ankara said it was “deeply saddened by the tragic fire,” adding that they “stand in solidarity with the people of Türkiye during this difficult time.”
Updated at 11:19 pm
