Sawt Falasteen - Simmering anger as Turkey buries ski hotel fire victims

With the nation observing a day of mourning, grieving families began burying their dead as questions multiplied about fire safety measures at the 12-storey Grand Kartal Hotel perched on a mountaintop in the Kartalkaya resort.

Front pages, including those of the pro-government dailies, were plastered with allegations of negligence which they pointed to as responsible for the shocking death toll.

On a freezing foggy morning, with flags flying at half-mast, more than 30 of the 51 injured were still in hospital, including one in intensive care.

"There is no excuse for such a high number of deaths in 2025," Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition CHP party, said outside the blackened facade of the hotel where rescuers were combing through the ruins on Wednesday.

The fire, which began in the dead of night, struck at peak season for the hotel with 238 guests staying for the winter school holidays which began Friday.

At a funeral in the nearby town of Bolu for eight members of the same family who died in the blaze, President Recep Tayyip Ergodan could be seen wiping away tears, his head bowed.

- 'Profoundly disturbing' -

"When I got to the hotel, there were flames everywhere and we could hear screams," said Cevdet Can, who runs a nearby ski school.

"I saw one person jump out of the window" to her death, told AFP, saying it was seeing children trapped "that upset me most".

Another ski instructor who escaped the hotel unharmed said he was unable to rescue his pupils, the youngest of whom was six.

"I lost five of my students who were staying on the 6th and 7th floors," 58-year-old Necmi Kepcetutan told AFP, saying another colleague had jumped to her death.

The blaze broke out around 3:30 am (0030 GMT), sparking panic among the guests, many of whom tried to climb out of the windows, using bedsheets as ropes.

Some fell to their deaths, media reports said.

Speaking to Turkish media outlets, many survivors told the same story: that there were no alarms warning them about the fire, no fire doors nor safe ways for people to exit the hotel.

Tourism Minister Nuri Ersoy on Tuesday said the hotel had passed an inspection last year and had two fire escapes, saying "no issues related to fire safety had been flagged by the fire department".

So far, nine people have been arrested, among them the hotel's owner, its general manager, its director and chief electrician, a government source told AFP.

One of the most expensive ski resorts in Turkey, the hotel boasted a prestigious client list that included executives, entrepreneurs and well-known doctors, many of whom were there with their children and family members.

By Wednesday afternoon, more than 20 victims had yet to be identified.

D.Khalil--SF-PST