The fire at a ski resort hotel in Turkey has caused global shock.
As shocking details continue to emerge about the tragic incident in which 76 people lost their lives, it has been revealed that 14 people from the same family, who were all on vacation together, were burned alive.
The fire at the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel, located in the well-known winter tourism destination of Kartalkaya, about 300 km southeast of Istanbul and 180 from Ankara, broke out at 3:27 a.m.
At that time, most of the hotel guests were in their rooms and the flames found them while they were sleeping, which made the escape process much more difficult. Many of those who woke up realized it was too late as the flames surrounded them.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the number of people who lost their lives in the fire disaster had reached 76.
A family of 14 was wiped out.
The tragedy of a 14-member family has caused real shock. According to Turkish media reports, among the victims were a couple with their three children and 9 other relatives. They all lost their lives in the fire.
Zehra, the mother who lost her life, who was an employee of Turkish Airlines according to CNNturk, shocked with her last act. She was trapped in the hotel with her family when the fire broke out. It was revealed that Zehra had called her mother and asked her to forgive her when she saw that her end was coming.
An 18-year-old girl who lost her life along with her father in the fatal fire shared a post on social media shortly before her tragic death.
"We are trapped in a fire in room 9013, we have no news from my family, urgent help"
It was found that some holidaymakers tied sheets together and hung them from windows to escape during the fire.
"My wife smelled burning. The alarm didn't go off," a vacationer staying on the third floor of the hotel told the IHA news agency. "We tried to go upstairs, but we couldn't, there were flames. We went downstairs and came out here," he said.
He noted that it took about an hour for firefighters to arrive. "People on the upper floors were screaming. They were hanging sheets... some people were trying to jump," he said.
Victims identified - Many children
76 people out of the hotel's 238 guests lost their lives and 51 people were injured, authorities reported.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunç announced that 6 chief prosecutors have been assigned to conduct an investigation into the fire and a 5-member expert committee has been formed.
It was also announced that 9 people, including the owner, were arrested as part of the investigation into the fire disaster.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. It is possible that it was caused by a gas leak or a short circuit. Initial estimates indicate that the fire started in the hotel's restaurant.
As reported this morning by Turkish media, the identification of the victims has begun. Among the dead are many children as this is a period when schools were closed and many families chose to go on excursions.
According to the latest information, the bodies of 46 of the 76 people who lost their lives in the fire were handed over to their families, after they were identified.
National mourning in Turkey
Teams and vehicles from the fire department, the health department, the regional gendarmerie and forestry directorates, as well as special units, participated in the firefighting and rescue operations.
Firefighters arrived at the 12-story hotel and made a desperate attempt to extinguish the fire in time to save the trapped vacationers, but access to the difficult location was delayed and the building's wooden infrastructure contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared 24 hours of national mourning after the tragedy
In statements after the Cabinet meeting in Ankara, the Turkish president said that a judicial and administrative investigation has been launched into the causes of the fire. He also clarified that six prosecutors, two inspectors from the Public Administration, four inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and a five-member expert committee have been appointed for this purpose. Four government ministers also rushed to the scene.
Source: iefimerida.gr
