Turkey detains 11 over ski resort fire that killed 76 hotel guests

Turkey has detained 11 people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 76 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the Bolu mountains, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on Wednesday.

A deputy mayor of the northwestern Bolu province, the head of the municipality's fire department, the owner and the manager of the hotel were among those detained, Tunc said on X.

At least 20 of the fire victims were children, according to local media reports.

Several funerals were held on Wednesday for families, including numerous children who died on Tuesday in the blaze, which forced panicked hotel guests to jump from windows in the middle of the night.

"Our hearts and souls are hurting and we are currently trying to fulfill this duty," President Tayyip Erdogan said at one funeral for eight victims in Bolu in western Turkey.

Yerlikaya also reported that the bodies of 45 victims had been handed over to their families, while DNA tests were being conducted to identify the remaining bodies at the forensic institute.

This handout photo shows a fire on the fourth floor of the 11-storey hotel in Bolu's Kartalkaya ski resort. AFP

The fire occurred at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort in the Bolu mountains.

The hotel, where the fire broke out, expressed deep sorrow in a statement on Wednesday and pledged full cooperation with the investigation.

"We are cooperating with authorities to shed light on all aspects of this incident," the statement said. "We are deeply saddened by the losses and want you to know that we share this pain with all our hearts."

The 12-storey hotel, which had 238 registered guests, was consumed by flames after the fire started on the restaurant floor around 3:30 a.m. (0030 GMT). Survivors described scenes of panic as they fled through smoke-filled corridors and jumped from windows to escape.

Firefighters work on the aftermath of a fire in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, Turkey, on Wednesday. AP

Authorities are facing growing criticism over the hotel's safety measures, as survivors reported that no fire alarms went off during the incident. Guests said they had to navigate the smoke-filled corridors in complete darkness.

President Tayyip Erdogan declared Wednesday a day of national mourning following the tragedy, which occurred during the peak of the winter tourism season, with many families from Istanbul and Ankara travelling to the Bolu mountains for skiing.

Guests said they had to navigate the smoke-filled corridors in complete darkness and other survivors described scenes of panic as they fled through smoke-filled corridors.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a hotel in the ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu, Turkey, on Tuesday. Reuters

The hotel pledged full cooperation with the investigation and said it was "deeply saddened by the losses."

At one funeral in Ankara, the coffins of a family of five were lined up at the central Ahmet Hamdi Akseki mosque. The parents, a doctor and teacher, had gone to Kartalkaya with their three children to ski during a mid-year school break, according to a Reuters witness at the funeral.

Reuters