Turkey has detained nine people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 76 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the Bolu mountains, authorities said.
Several funerals were held on Wednesday for families, including numerous children who died on Tuesday in the blaze, which forced panicked hotel guests to jump from windows in the middle of the night.
“Our hearts and souls are hurting and we are currently trying to fulfill this duty,” President Tayyip Erdogan said at one funeral for eight victims in Bolu in western Turkey.
“I pray for patience for the entire family and our nation.” The bodies of 45 victims were handed over to their families, while forensic DNA tests were being conducted to identify the others, the government said.
The fire occurred at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort, a 12-storey hotel which had 238 registered guests. It was consumed by flames after the blaze started on the restaurant floor around 3:30 a.m. local time (7:30 p.m. ET Monday).
Authorities are facing growing criticism over the hotel’s safety measures, as survivors reported they heard no fire alarms during the incident.
Guests said they had to navigate the smoke-filled corridors in complete darkness and other survivors described scenes of panic as they fled through smoke-filled corridors.
The hotel pledged full cooperation with the investigation and said it was “deeply saddened by the losses.”
At one funeral in Ankara, the coffins of a family of five were lined up at the central Ahmet Hamdi Akseki mosque.
The parents, a doctor and teacher, had gone to Kartalkaya with their three children to ski during a mid-year school break, according to a Reuters witness at the funeral.
At least 20 of the fire victims were children, according to local media reports.
President Tayyip Erdogan declared Wednesday a day of national mourning following the tragedy, which occurred during the peak of the winter tourism season, with many families from Istanbul and Ankara travelling to the Bolu mountains to ski.
