ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey has detained nine people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 76 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the mountains of Bolu, authorities said.
Several funerals were held Wednesday for families, including several children who died Tuesday in the fire, which forced panicked hotel guests to jump from windows in the middle of the night.
“Our hearts and souls are hurt and we are now trying to fulfill this duty,” President Tayyip Erdogan said at a funeral for the eight victims in Bolu in western Turkey.
“I pray for patience for the whole family and our country.” The bodies of 45 victims have been handed over to their families, while forensic DNA tests are being conducted to identify the others, the government said.
The fire broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya ski resort, a 12-story hotel with 238 registered guests. It was engulfed in flames after the fire started on the floor of the restaurant around 3:30 am (0030 GMT).
Authorities have faced growing criticism of the hotel’s safety measures, as survivors have reported hearing no fire alarms during the incident.
Visitors said they had to navigate smoke-filled corridors in complete darkness and some survivors described scenes of terror as they fled through smoke-filled corridors.
The hotel pledged full cooperation with the investigation and said it was “deeply saddened by the losses.”
At a 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 a teacher, went to Kartalkaya with their three children to ski during the half-year school vacation, according to a Reuters witness at the funeral.
At least 20 of the fire victims were children, according to local media reports.
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 traveling to the mountains of Bolu to ski. .