Anger is growing in Turkey after the fatal fire at the Grand Kartal, a huge luxury hotel in the ski resort of Kartalkaya in the northwest of the country.

According to initial reports, the fire started around 3.30 am in the restaurant on the fourth floor of the 12-storey building, possibly as a result of a gas leak. The wooden structure of the building facilitated the rapid spread of flames.

The investigation is still ongoing and Interior Minister Ali Erlikaya explained that work is continuing to identify the victims and 238 customers are registered at the restaurant. Today, President Erdogan declared a day of national mourning.

The Grand Kartal Hotel, which opened in 1998 on the site of the Kartal, is one of the most iconic establishments in the resort of Kartalkaya. With 161 rooms and a total capacity of 350 beds, the hotel underwent renovations in 2015. Turkish media highlight the critical lack of resources to deal with such a disaster.

Kartalkaya, which welcomes tens of thousands of tourists every year, was not equipped with a fire brigade, which delayed the fire fighting and probably increased the human toll. Firefighters had to be dispatched from downtown Bolu, the provincial capital to which the resort belongs, about an hour's drive away.

Potential faults in the hotel's fire-fighting systems have also been pointed out. Horrifying pictures of guests tying sheets in an attempt to escape through windows also highlighted the hotel's apparent lack of functional fire exits.

Meanwhile, eyewitness accounts paint a grim picture of the chaos. Barash Salgur, an employee at a nearby hotel, told Anatolian News Agency that he was resting in his room when he heard cries for help coming from the windows of the burning hotel.

"We saw smoke rising from the upper floors of the building. We quickly gathered ropes, pillows and blankets. People shouted for help as we waited for the fire brigade. It took about two hours. When the fire engines arrived, the upper floors were completely engulfed," Salghur recounted. | BGNES