26.01.2025 18:24
In the hotel fire disaster in Kartalkaya, where 78 people lost their lives, the surviving chef Mustafa Serbest recounted the terrifying moments he experienced. Emphasizing that the security measures were inadequate and that the incident was a chain of negligence, Serbest stated, "I regret that I did not die."
Mustafa Serbest, the chef of the hotel who survived the fire in Bolu Kartalkaya that claimed the lives of 78 people, expressed his sorrow over the incident, stating that they experienced hell. The 26-year-old Serbest, who returned to his family's home in Selçuk district of İzmir after the fire, recounted what they went through on the night of the fire to reporters.
HE HAD BEEN WORKING AT THAT HOTEL FOR 3 YEARS Serbest, who stated that he had been working as a chef during the winter season at the Grand Kartal Hotel for 3 years, noted that he could not forget the night of the fire. He mentioned that his room was on the second floor of the hotel, saying, "I woke up to a noise at night, a friend woke me up, it was around 02:45-03:00. There were screams of 'There is a fire.' When we went out, everything was already smoky. I panicked and didn't know what to do. It was so smoky that we couldn't breathe, our eyes couldn't see. I managed to get out by feeling my way, as I knew the way somewhat. We headed towards the garage. The garage door was closed. We tried to lift the garage door with about 15-20 people. Then we threw our cat outside. Until that time, there were not many flames, it was just smoke. I got outside at 03:30. We struggled inside for about half an hour or 40 minutes," he said. Serbest stated that when he got outside, he saw the hotel engulfed in flames and people asking for help from the windows of their rooms.
"THE FIRE ESCAPES WERE MADE OF WOOD" Mustafa Serbest noted that the fire department arrived about an hour later, and he witnessed people jumping from the windows to escape the fire, stating, "We had a chance to save some, but we couldn't save others. We were putting mattresses under them before they jumped. We were trying to catch those who jumped." Serbest argued that there were not enough fire safety measures in the hotel.
"THERE WERE DETECTORS BUT THEY WERE NOT WORKING" Serbest continued: "There was a fire detector in the hotel, but it was not working. I can say I didn't see a fire extinguisher. As far as I know, there was one in front of the head chef's office. I never saw another one. There was no sprinkler system in the hotel. There was a fire escape, but actually, the staff used that. There were warning signs, but the lighting was insufficient. The door of the fire escape was made of wood. Most likely, when one of the doors caught fire, smoke entered."
"I REGRET NOT BEING DEAD" Serbest expressed that he did not want to go to Kartalkaya again, saying, "I regret not being dead because if you heard that scream... A father is throwing his child. Can you live through something like that? Everyone put their lives on the line. Everyone jumped as a last hope. It was a life-and-death situation there. It was a chorus of screams everywhere. You can't help, you can only watch. You did what you could, but you can't do more. There were times when you went in but couldn't get out. Everything was smoky. We experienced hell," he stated.