Esmail Bagai asked Almighty God for mercy and forgiveness for those who lost their lives in this tragic incident and prayed for good health and speedy recovery for the injured.
At least 66 people were killed and 51 injured in a fire at a hotel in a Turkish ski resort, Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Erikaya announced on Tuesday.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Local media suggested that the wooden cladding on the hotel’s exterior may have accelerated the spread of the fire, Euronews reported.
“We are in deep pain. Unfortunately, 66 people lost their lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel,” Yelikaya told reporters after visiting the scene.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of the injured was in critical condition.
Yerlikaya announced early Tuesday that the fire broke out overnight in a hotel restaurant in Kartalkaya, in the northwest of the country.
The governor of Bol province, where the resort is located, told state news agency Anadolu that two of the victims died after panicking and jumping from the building.
According to Bor Governor Abdulaziz Aydın, there were 234 guests in the hotel at the time of the accident.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. NTV suggested that the wooden cladding on the hotel’s exterior may have facilitated the spread of the fire.
Kartalkaya is a popular ski resort located in the Koloğlu Mountains, about 300 kilometers east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during the school winter break, when area hotels are full.
The governor’s office announced that 30 fire engines and 28 ambulances were dispatched to the scene.
MA/6354306
