Simmering anger as Turkey begins burying 76 fire victims

by Fulya OZERKAN

Turkey was preparing to bury its dead Wednesday a day after a huge fire killed 76 people at a ski resort hotel, as questions grew over safety measures at the luxury establishment.

As the nation observed a day of mourning, dozens of families were preparing to bury their loved ones who died as the blaze ripped through the 12-story hotel.

But alongside the grief there was anger, with many newspapers publishing allegations of negligence at the mountaintop hotel in Kartalkaya, which lies about two hours northwest of Ankara.

"It was not the fire but the negligence which was responsible for so many deaths," said the pro-government Hurriyet newspaper.

The fire, which began in the dead of night, struck at peak season for the Grand Kartal Hotel, which had 238 guests staying at the start of a two-week winter break.

More than 30 people remained in hospital on Wednesday, one of whom was in intensive care, officials said.

On a freezing foggy morning, with flags flying at half-mast, rescuers resumed their search of the charred and blackened structure on Wednesday, where Turkish media said entire families had died.

Among those who were to be buried on Wednesday was a neurologist, his wife and their three children, including twin boys.

- 'Profoundly disturbing' -

The blaze broke out around 3:30 am (0030 GMT), sending huge clouds of smoke into the night air and sparking panic among the guests, many of whom tried to climb out of the windows, using bedsheets as ropes.

"I saw one kid hanging from the hotel window calling for help," said Islam, who works at a nearby hotel and did not give his surname.

"I was profoundly disturbed. I still cannot forget the image," he told AFP, saying he knew some of the hotel staff who died.

By Tuesday night, investigators had identified 52 of the dead and returned 45 bodies to their families for burial, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was expected to attend the funeral of seven family members of a local official from his ruling AKP in the nearby town of Bolu.

Yerlikaya said nine people, including the owner, had been arrested in connection with the blaze, with investigators looking into the cause of the fire, possible negligence and who was responsible.

Speaking to Turkish media on Tuesday, several guests said that no fire alarms nor smoke alarms had sounded, and that there were no fire escapes.

"No fire alarm went off... and there was no fire escape," Atakan Yelkovan told IHA news agency, saying it had taken "between an hour and an hour-and-a-half" for the firefighters to arrive.

But Tourism Minister Nuri Ersoy said the hotel had two fire escapes and had passed inspections "in 2021 and 2024".

"No issues related to fire safety had been flagged by the fire department," he said on Tuesday.

© Agence France-Presse