So far 76 people have died in Türkiye's ski resort fire, 234 guests were sleeping at the time of the incident.

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The death toll in a fire that broke out at a hotel in a ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday has risen to 76. Home Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 45 of the dead have been identified, while efforts are on to identify the others. The minister said authorities have detained nine people as part of the investigation into the incident.

Home Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that many people were injured in the fire that broke out on Tuesday. After inspecting the site of the incident, Yerlikaya said that we are deeply saddened. Unfortunately, 76 people lost their lives in the fire that broke out in this hotel.

Fire breaks out in 12-storey hotel

According to officials and media reports, a fire broke out in the restaurant of the 12-storey Grand Kartal Hotel in the Kartalkaya resort in Bolu province at around 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The cause of the fire is being investigated. Governor Abdulaziz Aydin said two victims died after jumping from the building in panic.

234 guests were staying at the hotel

Aydin said that 234 guests were staying in the hotel. Nekmi Kepsettutan, a ski trainer at the hotel, said that he was sleeping when the fire broke out. After the incident, he ran out of the building. He said that after this he helped evacuate about 20 guests from the hotel. He said that the hotel was filled with smoke, which made it difficult for the guests to find a way to escape the fire.

Fire on the roof and upper floors

The ski trainer said that I was unable to contact some of my students. I hope they are fine. In the scenes shown by the media, the roof and upper floors of the hotel are seen on fire. The government has appointed six prosecutors to investigate. It is believed that the fire must have spread rapidly due to the wooden structure on the outside of the hotel.

Let us tell you that this 161-room hotel is located near a high cliff, which was hampering efforts to control the fire. Kartalkaya is a popular ski resort located in the Koroglu mountain region, about 300 kilometers east of Istanbul. School holidays are going on in Turkey and during this time the hotels in the area are usually full.

The rest of the hotels in the resort were evacuated.

Aydin's office said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the scene. As a precaution, other hotels in the resort were evacuated and guests were accommodated in hotels around Bolu. Meanwhile, four people were injured in an explosion at a hotel in another ski resort in central Turkey. The explosion took place at the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Center in Sivas province. The Sivas governor's office said two people taking skiing training and their trainer and another trainer were burnt in the incident.