ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey detained nine people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 76 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the Bolu Mountains, authorities said.
Several funerals were held Wednesday for families, including numerous children who died Tuesday in the fire, which forced panicked hotel guests to jump out of windows in the middle of the night.
“Our hearts and souls are suffering and we are currently trying to fulfill this duty,” President Tayyip Erdogan said at a funeral for eight victims in Bolu, western Turkey.
“I pray for patience for the entire family and our nation.” The bodies of 45 victims were handed over to their relatives, while forensic DNA testing was carried out to identify the others, the government said.
The fire broke out at the Grand Kartal hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort, a 12-story hotel where 238 guests were registered. It was consumed by flames after the fire started on the floor of the restaurant at around 3:30 am (0030 GMT).
Authorities are facing growing criticism over the hotel’s security measures, as survivors reported hearing no fire alarms during the incident.
Guests said they had to navigate smoke-filled hallways in complete darkness, and other survivors described scenes of panic as they fled through smoke-filled hallways.
The hotel promised full cooperation with the investigation and said it was “deeply saddened by the losses.”
At a funeral in Ankara, the coffins of a family of five were lined up at the Ahmet Hamdi Akseki central mosque.
The parents, a doctor and a teacher, had gone to Kartalkaya with their three children to ski during the mid-year school holidays, according to a Reuters witness at the funeral.
At least 20 of the fire victims were children, according to local media reports.
President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday declared a day of national mourning following the tragedy, which occurred during the peak of the winter tourist season, when many families from Istanbul and Ankara traveled to the Bolu Mountains to ski.