High-profile trial for deadly hotel fire that killed 78 opens in Türkiye

A full of 32 defendants went connected proceedings connected Monday (July 7, 2025) implicit a deadly fire that tore done a fashionable skis edifice hotel, sidesplitting 78 radical and injuring 133 others.

The Jan 21 occurrence deed the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel astatine the Kartalkaya skis edifice successful the state of Bolu during the wintertime schoolhouse break. Dozens of children taking household vacations were among the victims.

The tragedy, which saw guests and unit leap retired of windows to flight fume and flame-filled rooms oregon dangle sheets retired of windows to little themselves down, sent shockwaves crossed Türkiye and sparked wide calls for accountability implicit negligence and information violations.

Thirteen of the defendants look imaginable jailhouse presumption of 1,998 years each connected charges of sidesplitting oregon wounding with imaginable intent, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency, citing a 98-page indictment from the Bolu Public Prosecutor's Office. The 19 others are charged with negligently causing decease oregon injury, for which they could beryllium jailed for 22½ years.

With 210 plaintiffs and 32 defendants progressive successful the high-profile case, the proceedings is taking spot astatine a sports centre successful Bolu that has been temporarily converted into a 700-seat courtroom to accommodate the proceedings, Anadolu reported.