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14 detained in Turkish ski resort fire investigation

People stand behind a police barrier as they watch the arrival of the coffins of eight victims who died following a huge fire at northern Turkish Kartalkaya Ski Resort, to the mosque of burial in Bolu, on January 22, 2025. A huge fire ripped through the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya which lies 170 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of Ankara before dawn on January 21, 2025, killing 76 people and injuring 51 others. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)

Fourteen people have now been detained as part of a criminal investigation into a fire at a Turkish ski resort hotel that killed 78, Agence France-Presse reported on Friday, citing state media.

The Anadolu news agency said eight people were brought before prosecutors on Friday in connection with the blaze that swept through the Grand Kartal Hotel in Turkey’s northwestern Bolu province early Tuesday.

The owner of the hotel and his son-in-law are among those detained, along with the general manager, director and chief electrician as well as Bolu’s firefighting chief.

Negligence is suspected for the high death toll, after survivors said there were no fire alarms, fire escapes or smoke alarms at the 12-story hotel, trapping people inside.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 238 people, most of them families with children, were staying at the hotel northwest of Ankara at the time of the fire.

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