Kartalkaya, Turkey — Authorities are investigating safety measures at a popular ski resort in northern Turkey following a incident that occurred during the peak holiday season. Guests and officials are now reflecting on the need for stronger safety protocols to prevent future disasters.

A huge fire killed at least 76 people Tuesday as it ripped through a hotel at a popular ski resort in northern Turkey that was packed with people enjoying the winter holidays, including families.

The blaze at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya broke out around 3:30 am (0030 GMT), sending huge clouds of smoke into the night air and sparking panic among the guests.

"Unfortunately the number of dead is now 76," said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on Tuesday night, updating an earlier figure of 66 dead.

He said 52 of the victims had been identified so far with forensic experts working to determine the identities of the others. Most of the victims' bodies had been returned to their families, he added.

Survivors and eyewitnesses spoke of scenes of desperation as people tried to flee the flames with some leaping out of windows or using bedsheets as a makeshift rope.

"People on the upper floors were screaming. They threw bedsheets out of the windows, some tried to jump," Atakan Yelkovan, who escaped from the third floor with his wife, told IHA news agency.

A very shaken hotel employee, who did not give his name, said he saw guests at their windows screaming for help. 

"I saw a father with his baby in his arms asking for pillows so he could throw down his son. Luckily he waited for the emergency services who saved them," he told IHA.  

"But on the top floor, two women threw themselves out of the window and died," he said, explaining that students were staying on the top floor. 

Peak ski season

Tragedy struck at peak season for the ski hotel, which stands at 2,000 metres above sea level and was almost full for the two-week winter break which began on Friday.

The interior minister said 238 guests had been staying at the hotel.

Alongside the dead, another 51 people were injured.

Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said 17 had been discharged and 34 were still in hospital, one in intensive care.

Yerlikaya said nine people had been arrested in connection with the blaze, updating an earlier figure of four, with investigators looking into the cause of the fire, possible negligence and who was responsible.

Among those under investigation was the hotel's owner.

Screaming for help

One survivor, Eylem Senturk, said she and her daughter managed to get out despite the thick black smoke on their landing but her husband was trapped. 

"Although he was right behind us, he couldn't get downstairs due to the smoke so he jumped from the window to the porch below," she told Anadolu news agency, adding that he had then jumped to safety on a car roof.

At least three people who tried to climb out of the windows fell to their deaths, NTV said.

The fire is thought to have started in the restaurant and quickly spread through the hotel which was covered with wooden cladding. The cause was not immediately clear.

Among the dead was a journalist who worked for the Sozcu daily, who perished with his wife and two adult children, the newspaper said in a statement.

'Great pain'

"Our pain is great," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, declaring a national day of mourning on Wednesday, and vowing that those responsible would be "held to account".

Tourism Minister Nuri Ersoy said the hotel had two fire escapes and had passed a fire inspection "in 2024" but some survivors said there appeared to be no safety mechanisms in place.

"There was no alarm, no smoke detector and no fire escape, even though there was smoke all the way up to the 10th floor," said a tearful man who had been at the hotel since Sunday and was interviewed by several TV channels.

And Yelkovan, who escaped from the third floor, told IHA: "No fire alarm went off.. and there was no fire escape," adding that it had taken "between an hour and an hour-and-a-half" for the firefighters to arrive.

After the flames were finally doused, footage from inside showed the blackened lobby filled with charred wooden furniture and shattered glass.

As Turkey counted the dead, condolences poured in from leaders such as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia's Vladimir Putin, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

(Source: Adem Altan, Agence France-Presse)