Staff left fire alarm unactivated in Turkey hotel blaze so VIPs could escape first: report

Hotel staff did not activate the fire alarm during a deadly January blaze at a Turkish ski resort in order to evacuate “privileged” guests without interference, according to a court-appointed expert report, the Velev news website reported on Thursday.

The fire broke out in the early hours of January 21 at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu’s Kartalkaya ski resort.

Investigators found that staff intentionally chose not to trigger the hotel’s general fire alarm system to avoid a stampede that might have delayed the evacuation of select guests on the upper floors.

Instead, hotel personnel warned selected individuals in private, allowing them to evacuate before the fire was widely known.

Video footage and phone records cited in the report show that hotel managers prioritized warning their acquaintances and relatives.

Dozens of guests remained unaware of the fire until it was too late, leading to 78 deaths, including 36 children.

The fire began in the hotel’s main kitchen, in a space described in the report as a “show cooking” area — a presentation-style cooking station used to entertain guests.

Although the fire occurred in the middle of the night when the restaurant was not operating, investigators found that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was present in the kitchen in violation of safety regulations.

The report states that hotel staff failed to close the gas valves despite emergency protocols.

The court-appointed experts identified multiple parties as primarily responsible for the disaster.

They include the hotel’s owners and board members, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Bolu’s Provincial Special Administration, the Bolu Fire Department and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

Each party was found to have ignored or failed to correct known safety deficiencies, according to the report.

Authorities said the hotel had previously withdrawn its application for a mandatory fire safety compliance permit after failing to meet inspection criteria.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared a national day of mourning after the fire.

Criminal investigations into the fire are ongoing, with more than 20 people, including local officials and hotel staff, taken into custody.