After a hotel at a ski resort in northwest Turkey was destroyed by fire on Tuesday, the death toll increased to
66, according to the interior minister.
According to media sources, some visitors may have died after attempting to jump to safety, while witnesses reported that desperate guests had attempted to flee using ropes and that bedsheets were dangling from the windows.
The fire has been contained, according to officials, and several ministers have arrived at the Kartalkaya resort, which is located around 170 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of the capital Ankara.
“Our pain is great,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters at Kartalkaya. “66 citizens lost their lives and 51 others wounded.”
He said the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel, which has wooden cladding, was the scene of a fire that started at 3:27 am (0027 GMT).
The minister also mentioned that 238 people were registered to stay at the hotel, which was at its busiest during a two-week school break.
Three individuals who had leaped from the hotel’s windows were among the deceased, according to a private NTV station.
Although the source of the fire was not immediately apparent, it is thought to have begun in the restaurant and spread swiftly.
Firefighters find it more difficult to put out the fire because part of the building backs onto a cliff.
