ANKARA: Turkiye has detained 11 people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 76 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the Bolu mountains, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on Wednesday.
A deputy mayor of the northwestern Bolu province, the head of the municipality’s fire department, the owner and the manager of the hotel were among those detained, Tunc said on X.
Several funerals were held on Wednesday for the victims of Tuesday’s blaze, including numerous children. The fire forced panicked hotel guests to jump from windows in the middle of the night.
“Our hearts and souls are hurting,” President Tayyip Erdogan said at a funeral for eight victims from the same family in Bolu in western Türkiye.
“I pray for patience for the entire family and our nation.”
The bodies of 45 victims were handed over to their families, and 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-story hotel which had 238 registered guests. It was consumed by flames after the blaze started on the restaurant floor around 3:30 a.m. (0030 GMT).
Some survivors said they heard no fire alarms during the incident and guests said they had to navigate smoke-filled corridors in complete darkness.
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 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 school break, according to a Reuters witness at the funeral.
At least 20 of the fire victims were children, according to local media reports.
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 traveling to the Bolu mountains to ski.
Turkiye detains 11 over ski resort hotel fire that killed 76
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Turkiye detains 11 over ski resort hotel fire that killed 76
- A deputy mayor of the northwestern Bolu province, the head of the municipality’s fire department, the owner and the manager of the hotel were among those detained
- Several funerals were held on Wednesday for the victims of Tuesday’s blaze, including numerous children
Arab and Islamic states reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
- Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” on Friday
- Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity of Somalia
A group of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries, alongside the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), have firmly rejected Israel’s announcement of its recognition of the Somaliland region within Somalia.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the ministers condemned Israel’s decision, announced on December 26, warning that the move carries “serious repercussions for peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region” and undermines international peace and security, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The statement described the recognition as an unprecedented and flagrant violation of international law and the charter of the United Nations, which uphold the principles of state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, JNA added.
Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties, as the region’s leader hailed its first-ever official recognition.
The ministers reaffirmed their full support for the sovereignty of Somalia, rejecting any measures that would undermine its unity or territorial integrity.
They warned that recognizing the independence of parts of states sets a dangerous precedent and poses a direct threat to international peace and security.
The statement also reiterated categorical opposition to any attempt to link the move with plans to displace the Palestinian people outside their land, stressing that such proposals are rejected “in form and substance.”
Alongside the Jordanian foreign ministry, the joint statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye and Yemen, as well as the OIC.
Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Somalia, and expressed its rejection of the declaration of mutual recognition between Israel and Somaliland.
