ankara, Türkiye
AP
—
A Turkish court on Friday found the owner of a ski resort hotel and 10 others guilty of gross negligence in connection with a deadly fire on the premises and sentenced them to life in prison, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The fire ripped through the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bor province on January 21, during the winter school holidays, killing 78 people and injuring 133 others. The victims included 34 children on a family vacation.
The court found hotel owner Harit Ergul, his wife, two daughters, the hotelier, the deputy mayor and the deputy fire chief guilty of negligence with “possible murderous intent”. They were each sentenced to life in prison for the child’s death, and an additional 25 years in prison for the deaths of 44 others.
The defendants deny responsibility for the deaths and are expected to appeal the decision. After the verdict was read, there was applause in the courtroom and family members welcomed the verdict, Haberturk News Channel reported.
The disaster forced frightened guests and hotel staff to flee rooms engulfed in smoke and flames by jumping out of windows or hanging bed sheets. The incident shocked Turkey and sparked widespread calls for accountability for negligence and safety violations.
Families and friends of the victims demonstrated outside the courthouse during each hearing, holding up posters of their loved ones and demanding justice.
According to the indictment, the fire started at 3:17 a.m. when sparks from an electric grill ignited a trash can and a liquefied petroleum gas hose burst. Staff noticed the flames after seven minutes, but within two minutes the fire had spread out of control. Air from the open door accelerated the flames, which quickly engulfed the wooden ceiling.
Inadequate safety measures, including a lack of smoke extraction equipment, malfunctioning alarms, insufficient staff training, and a lack of a sprinkler system, allowed smoke to fill the upper floors. The indictment says the stairwell and elevator shaft acted like a chimney and lacked emergency lighting, signage and alternate exits, preventing the safe evacuation of 238 hotel guests.
The hotel opened in 1999 and has been operated by the Ergul company since 2007.
