AP – A waitress who was in serious condition after jumping out of a burning hotel at a popular ski resort has succumbed to her injuries, officials and reports said, becoming the latest victim of a tragedy that has shocked the nation and revived concerns over lax safety regulations in the country.
Turkish officials early on Thursday revised the number of deaths from Tuesday’s blaze at the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in northwestern Bolu province, from 79 to 78, including Sevval Sahin. The 25-year-old waitress died in the intensive care unit of a hospital late on Wednesday. Dozens of others were injured in the blaze.
The government has appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the cause of the fire, which came at the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the area are filled to capacity. Authorities have detained 11 people for questioning, including the hotel’s owner, Bolu’s deputy mayor and the acting fire department chief. No charges have been brought yet.
The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has traded accusations of blame with the Bolu municipality, which is controlled by Turkiye’s main opposition party.
The blaze appeared to have started at the restaurant section on the fourth floor of the wooden-clad hotel and spread quickly through to the upper floors. Guests and staff jumped out of windows to escape smoke and flame-filled rooms or dangled sheets out of windows to lower themselves out.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has stated that the hotel had been inspected in 2021 and 2014, and had a fire safety certificate.
