Hilmi Altın, who lost his wife and daughter in the Kartalkaya tragedy, recounted those horrifying moments for the first time.

27.01.2025 17:04

During the fire disaster that occurred in Bolu Kartalkaya, Hilmi Altın, who fought for his life, shared his experiences through a post on his social media account. He expressed the sadness of returning from a vacation with his family and friends feeling incomplete. Hilmi Altın's post conveyed emotional moments as he recounted what he went through during that time.

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During the fire disaster that occurred in Bolu Kartalkaya, Hilmi Altun, who was trapped in the hotel with his family and lost his wife and two young daughters, stated that he would share the events of that day for the first and last time on his social media account. In his post, Hilmi Altun mentioned that his close friend and her family also experienced the loss of Dr. Instructor Kübra Tonguç Altın and her daughter Alya Altın on that tragic day; "God gave me a life and burdened me with the debt of my wife and daughter. As long as I have this life, I will fight with all my strength for the culprits to receive the punishment they deserve." he expressed.

"IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO BREATHE"

In his post, Hilmi Altun stated that they were on the 8th floor during the fire disaster; "On the day of the incident, when my wife Kübra said, 'Hilmi, get up, there is a fire, come to us!' I opened my eyes and saw my wife and daughter running out of the room. When I got dressed and left the room, I encountered a very dense, poisonous smoke (with an estimated 30-50 seconds difference) and it was impossible to breathe. I tried the stairs several times but couldn't find them. I thought that my wife and child's quick actions helped them escape, and while I was helplessly pacing back and forth on the 8th floor, I ran into our friends in the corridor. Together with them, we took refuge in the Yalçın family's room." he said.

"WE TOOK REFUGE IN A ROOM"

Hilmi Altun, who mentioned that he encountered a group of people while trying to escape, said; "While plans were being made to descend with sheets, I wanted to follow my wife and daughter once again. I wrapped a wet towel around my face and left my friends' room again. However, the smoke was much worse, and visibility was zero. Even though I searched the stairs again, I couldn't succeed. As I walked randomly to escape the smoke, I saw a large group at the end of the corridor trying to break a window in a low-visibility area that allowed breathing. I immediately joined them, and together we took refuge in a room." he stated.

"WE THREW MATTRESSES DOWN"

Hilmi Altun shared that they fought hard to escape with the people he encountered; "As far as I remember, we were 13 people. There were mostly children and women. We were incredibly coordinated as those in the room, and everyone started to lower the children first, then the women, and finally the men. While my friends quickly tied the sheets, my eyes caught the beds. The beds were much larger than the windows. When I asked if we could throw the beds down, everyone immediately gave their all without hesitation, and we quickly bent the beds and threw them down." he said.

"I RAN TO SEARCH FOR MY WIFE AND CHILD"

Hilmi Altun, who stated that they descended from the 8th floor to the 5th by lowering sheets from the window, said; "Then we lowered the children first and then the women onto the beds with the sheets. One of the men said, 'I will tie the sheets to a fixed place, you go, I will come down last.' I came down just before the last one. The friend before me had the sheet break, and I was left with a small piece of sheet. I let myself fall backward from the 8th-floor window onto the 5th-floor awning. I think I fell on top of a friend who was trying to rescue me. Once we confirmed that we were both okay, I ran to search for my wife and child. However, I couldn't find them anywhere." he expressed.

"THE MOST PAINFUL FEELING IN THE WORLD IS INEXPRESSIBLE"

After the disaster, Hilmi Altun expressed the deep pain of losing his daughter and wife; "Since the idea of beds could benefit other people, I rushed to the other hotel and urgently asked the staff to bring the beds under the windows. Then we started throwing beds from the other hotel onto the awnings. As the AFAD team grew in number, they took the survivors to the other hotel. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, this hotel took my wife Kübra and my daughter Alya from me. The most painful feeling in the world is indescribable." he said.

"A MASSACRE WAS COMMITTED IN PLAIN SIGHT"

During his post, Hilmi Altun expressed his thoughts on the events and stated that he would fight with all his strength for the culprits to receive the punishment they deserve. Hilmi Altun said; "When we first went to that hotel, we were two families, wanting to fulfill the holiday wishes of our children who grew up together since they were in strollers, who made university plans together, and who dreamed of living in the same house. However, we could not know that they would walk to heaven together. My wife, who loved our daughter more than her own life, never left her little bird, even in her last breath. We lost our dear daughter Alya, my dear wife Kübra, and our friends from the Yalçın family, Atakan Hoca and little Derin. Atakan's wife, our beloved Yaprak, and our daughter Defne were saved with great difficulty and returned to their families and us. May God bless everyone who ran for others at the cost of their own lives in that room and that hotel that day. It was a huge life market. However, this was not an unfortunate event! A massacre was committed in plain sight. We were literally told in that hotel to choose our deaths." he stated.

"I WILL FIGHT WITH ALL MY STRENGTH FOR THE CULPRITS TO RECEIVE THE PUNISHMENT THEY DESERVE"

Hilmi Altun also expressed his gratitude to those who supported him; "God gave me a life and burdened me with the debt of my wife and daughter. As long as I have this life, I will fight with all my strength for the culprits to receive the punishment they deserve. At this point, I have no doubt that everyone who has made even the slightest mistake will be punished by our state and our justice. May God give patience to everyone who experiences this pain. Those who caused it should receive the punishment they deserve before Justice. We are grateful to our friends from all over the world and our homeland who called and inquired during this process. May God bless everyone who shared our pain and did not withhold their prayers. I hope no one has to understand the valuable meaning of the phrase 'ordered death' through a similar pain again. I hope the last pain we experience is ours, and may the suffering end in our beautiful country." he said.