Turkey declared Wednesday a national day of mourning to honor the victims of a devastating fire that tore through a hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province. The blaze claimed 76 lives, including several children, and injured 51 others. Flags across the country will be flown at half-mast until sunset.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the national mourning in a statement on social media platform X, expressing solidarity with the families of the victims.

“A one-day national mourning has been declared to share the grief of our brothers and sisters who lost their lives in the fire at the Bolu Kartalkaya hotel,” Erdoğan wrote. “Today is not a day for politics; it is a day for solidarity and unity. May God protect our nation from such painful events in the future. Those responsible for this disaster will be held accountable before the law.”

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis extended his condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery in a post on X.

Scenes of Desperation

Witnesses described harrowing scenes as the fire engulfed the hotel within 30 minutes, forcing terrified guests to leap from windows in a desperate attempt to escape.

“People started jumping, trying to climb down using bed sheets,” said Ömer Sakrak, an employee at a neighboring hotel. Another eyewitness, Mevlut Ozer, recounted: “It was like an apocalypse. Flames surrounded the hotel in no time. A father was yelling, ‘I will throw my child down, or they will burn.’”

The fire also highlighted the challenges of emergency response in the area. The closest fire station is over an hour away, leaving rescue teams struggling to contain the inferno.

Concerns Over Fire Safety

The tragedy has sparked widespread criticism over the hotel’s fire safety measures. Reports indicate that the hotel lacked an automatic sprinkler system and failed to sound an alarm when the fire broke out.

A drone view shows the aftermath of a fire at a hotel in the ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu, Turkey, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

However, the absence of a nearby fire station in Kartalkaya—one of Turkey’s premier ski destinations, situated relatively close to Istanbul and Ankara—has raised questions about preparedness for emergencies in high-risk areas.