The number of deaths as a result of the hotel fire at a Turkish ski resort has risen to 66, the Turkish Minister of the Interior has announced.
There are at least 51 injured. It concerns a hotel in the town of Kartalkaya, in the northwest of Turkey. There were reportedly a total of 237 guests in the mostly wooden building. It was busy in the hotel; it had an occupancy of 80 to 90 percent, because many students were free.
The fire started at 3:30 a.m. local time on the fourth floor of the Grand Kartal hotel in the winter sports resort. Images from overnight show much of the 11-storey hotel on fire, including the roof and upper floors. Two of the victims died after jumping from the building in panic, Governor Abdulaziz Aydin said this morning. Some guests tried to climb out of their rooms using sheets and blankets tied together.
