Final death toll in Kartalkaya fire is 78

A fire at a ski resort in Turkey this week killed 78 people, the Justice Ministry said, saying all the victims had been identified.

The prosecutor's office in Bolu, the capital of the province where the tragedy occurred, reported 79 dead on January 22, AFP reported.

Entire families died when a huge fire swept through the Grand Kartal Hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya on 21 January.

Questions about fire safety measures at the luxury 12-storey hotel have multiplied amid growing suspicions that negligence contributed to the high death toll.

Survivors and experts say the hotel's fire alarm system was not working.

Derya Basilmaz, head of the Ankara Chamber of Architects, who was in Kartalkaya with a team of experts to prepare a report on the tragedy, said the hotel had only one fire exit and no sprinkler system.

So far, 11 people have been arrested, including the hotel's owner, general manager, director and chief electrician, as well as the chief of the Bolu fire department. | BGNES