Owner of burned hotel in Turkey blamed employees for the fire

The owner of the Grand Kartal hotel in the ski resort Kartalkaya in the town of Bolu in Turkey Halit Ergul called the hotel staff guilty of the fire that killed 78 people. This was reported on January 26 by the Turkish edition Karar.

During interrogations in the prosecutor's office and court, Ergül put the responsibility on the chef and kitchen staff, who are responsible for the state of electrical appliances in the kitchen, security staff and an electrician who controls the fire alarm buttons.

The publication recalled that the fire in the hotel started in the restaurant area, and the fire escape served as a chimney, carrying the products of combustion to the upper floors. It is established that most of the victims died precisely because of carbon monoxide poisoning. It is important that at the time of the incident in the building did not work fire alarms and smoke evacuation system.

As part of the investigation, 15 people have been detained. In particular, the deputy mayor of Bolu, responsible for the fire department, deputy chief and employees of the fire department will be brought before the court.

On the eve of January 25, the investigation revealed that the chairlifts and cable cars at the Grand Kartal Hotel were installed 32 years ago and they are in a neglected state. In addition, they are second-hand: the equipment was brought from a resort in Austria.

A massive fire at the resort in Bolu occurred on the night of January 21. According to CNN Türk, the fire started in a wooden hotel located at an altitude of 2.2 thousand meters. It was specified that there were almost 240 guests in the building. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared January 22 a day of mourning in the country after the fire, adds "Gazeta.Ru".

Later, on January 24, the court arrested Ergül and other suspects. Erdogan then said that all those responsible for the fire will be held accountable.