Eleven people have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Turkish court following a ski resort hotel fire that killed 78 people
As previously reported by the FPA, fire engulfed the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel located in Turkey’s Bolu mountains on 21 January 2025. A popular location for families from nearby Istanbul and Ankara, 238 guests had been staying at the hotel at the beginning of the school holiday period.
The blaze, believed to have originated on the hotel’s restaurant floor, broke out in the early hours of the morning. It was reported that more than 260 workers spent 12 hours tackling the spread of flames, with footage of the incident showing guests jumping from windows in an attempt to escape. Thirty-four children were among those killed by the fire, with an additional 137 people suffering injuries.
In the aftermath of the incident, local authorities and the government faced questions over fire safety accountability. Authorities initially detained multiple people while an investigation into the cause of the fire was carried out. As reported by BBC News, the subsequent inquiry found that some of the fire safety equipment at the hotel had not worked at the time of the fire. It was also found that the building’s gas equipment did not meet the necessary safety standards.
According to CNN, the poor safety measures included a “lack of smoke extraction, faulty alarms, inadequate staff training, and missing sprinkler systems”. Stairwells and elevator shafts were described as acting “like chimneys”, and missing emergency lighting, signage, and alternative exits prevented safe evacuation.
A total of 32 people faced charges, including hotel owner Halit Ergül, his wife and two daughters who were part of the hotel’s management team, and employees of the hotel. At the hearing, Ergül denied responsibility for the fire, stating that the hotel had undergone regular safety inspections, adding: "If I had foreseen the risk, I would have closed the hotel myself."
As reported by Al Jazeera and Turkiye Today, 11 defendants were accused of severe negligence, including Ergül and his family, the hotel’s general manager, Bolu’s deputy mayor, and the local fire chief. The Bolu 1st High Criminal Court sentenced them to aggravated life imprisonment for the deaths of 34 children and separate prison terms of 24 years and 11 months for the deaths of the remaining 44 victims.
Twenty other defendants remain in pre-trial detention.