Turkish prosecutors hand 11 people life sentences over ski resort blaze

Thirty-four children were among 78 radical killed successful the deadly blaze, which occurred during the schoolhouse holidays.

A Turkish tribunal has sentenced 11 radical to beingness successful situation implicit a occurrence that killed 78 radical astatine a edifice successful a skis edifice successful northwest Turkiye’s Bolu mountains successful January.

Among those sentenced connected Friday were Halit Ergul – the proprietor of the Grand Kartal Hotel, which sits successful the Kartalkaya skis edifice astir 295km (183 miles) eastbound of Istanbul – according to state-run broadcaster TRT Haber.

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The tribunal besides sentenced Ergul’s wife, Emine Ergul, and their daughters, Elif Aras and Ceyda Hacibekiroglu – each of whom were portion of the hotel’s absorption team.

The deadly blaze broke retired overnight successful the edifice of the Grand Kartal connected January 21, rapidly engulfing the 12-storey hotel, wherever 238 guests were staying.

Thirty-four children were among 78 radical killed successful the fire, which occurred during the schoolhouse holidays erstwhile galore families from Ankara and Istanbul caput to the Bolu mountains to ski.

Another 137 radical suffered injuries during the incident, arsenic panicked edifice guests were forced to leap from windows successful the mediate of the night.

Also sentenced connected Friday were the hotel’s wide manager, Emir Aras, arsenic good arsenic the lawman politician of Bolu, Sedat Gulener, and the manager of different hotel, Ahmet Demir, some of whom were reportedly connected the committee of directors of the institution that owned the Grand Kartal.

There are a full of 32 defendants successful the trial, 20 of whom are successful pre-trial detention, according to TRT. It’s unclear erstwhile the remaining defendants volition look successful court.

In total, the convicted were handed 34 aggravated beingness sentences for the 34 children killed successful the disaster. Those successful the courtroom greeted the announcement with applause.

The occurrence sparked nationwide choler successful Turkiye, with questions raised implicit information measures successful spot astatine the edifice aft survivors said nary occurrence alarms went disconnected during the incident, and they had to navigate smoke-filled corridors successful implicit darkness.

Under unit to act, Turkish authorities rapidly arrested 9 people successful transportation with the blaze, portion the authorities appointed six prosecutors to pb an investigation.

Speaking to reporters extracurricular the still-smoking hotel, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya pledged that those “responsible for causing this symptom volition not flight justice”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a time of nationalist mourning, arsenic helium served arsenic a pallbearer astatine a ceremonial ceremonial for the victims the pursuing day.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a ceremonial ceremonial for the victims of the deadly edifice occurrence astatine Kartalkaya skis edifice successful Bolu, Turkiye, connected January 22, 2025 [Adem Altan/Pool via Reuters]