Authorities are still investigating the cause of a devastating and deadly fire at a ski resort. The death toll has climbed to 76 people. Sadly 20 of these deceased victims were children.
Authorities arrested and detained four people in connection to the fire. What their connection to the blaze is remains unclear at this time. But authorities are taking the fire seriously. One of the people arrested happened to be the owner of the ski resort hotel.
The incident happened the Grand Kartal Hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Turkey on January 21. The fire happened in the middle of the night. Several guests jumped to their deaths in a panic in order to try to escape the inferno around them.
"Our hearts and souls are hurting and we are currently trying to fulfill this duty," President Tayyip Erdogan said at one funeral. "I pray for patience for the entire family and our nation."
So far, they've identified 45 of the 76 people killed in the ski resort fire. More than 230 guests were staying at the establishment when the fire happened.
Ski Resort Fire
"I saw a father with his baby in his arms asking for pillows so he could throw down his son," a hotel employee told the news agency IHA, per CBS 19. "Luckily he waited for the emergency services who saved them."
Meanwhile, a guest described the inferno around them.
"My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off," Atakan Yelkovan, a guest at the hotel told the news agency IHA, per the AP. "We tried to go upstairs but couldn't, there were flames. We went downstairs and came [outside]. People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets ... Some tried to jump."
One of the ski resort instructors mourned the loss of children in the blaze. He lost five of his students in the fire.
"At least a quarter of our customers were children," Necmi Kepçetutan, a 58-year-old ski instructor, told Sözcü. "I have students I couldn't reach. I don't know where they are. I'm just praying."
The ski resort instructor helped rescue people during the fire.
"With the others, I leaned a ladder against the front wall and helped 15 to 20 people get out," he told the outlet.
