30.01.2025 15:31
The words of Rıfat Doğan, who lost his wife and daughter in the hotel tragedy in Bolu, broke hearts. Doğan stated that about three hours before the fire, his daughter Lalin sent him a message saying, "Good night, daddy." He said, "They tried to extinguish the fire on their own, saying, 'Our prestige will be damaged.' I consider this situation a murder. In fact, I elevate it to the level of calling it a massacre."
In the Grand Kartal Hotel, a 12-story building in Kartalkaya Ski Resort in Bolu, a fire tragedy occurred on January 21, resulting in the loss of 78 lives, including 36 children. Many families who came to vacation with their children due to the semester break lost their lives. While the wound of the tragedy has not yet healed, the words of those who lost their loved ones in the fire have burned hearts.
LAST MESSAGE WITH HIS FATHER Businessman Rıfat Doğan's wife Ceren Yaman and daughter Lalin also lost their lives in the tragedy. Due to his busy work schedule, Rıfat Doğan could not vacation with his family and left his wife and daughter at the hotel where the tragedy occurred on Monday, January 20. Doğan last messaged his daughter just hours before the tragedy. It was learned that Lalin sent a message to her father saying, "Good night, daddy, I kissed you" before going to sleep.
"THIS WAS MY LAST MEETING WITH THEM" Businessman Rıfat Doğan, who lost his wife and daughter in a hotel with a chain of negligence, spoke with his father-in-law Yusuf Yaman. Rıfat Doğan, who said his daughter wanted to ski in Kartalkaya during the semester break, stated, "We talked with my wife. 'We can go out, you can return. You can come and pick us up in two days,' she said. We arranged our place this way. We went down with them and arranged with our ski instructor. Our ski instructor was available at 12:00 instead of 11:00, so we gained an hour. I had the chance to sit and chat with my wife and child for the last time there. We sat and had our tea and coffee. As the ski time approached, we went down. I dressed them because I always helped them with their boots and preparations for skiing. After that, I left the hotel. I handed my daughter over to the ski instructor, Mr. Ahmet. I put my wife's helmet on and kissed her, and I kissed my daughter. Mr. Ahmet and my daughter started skiing. That was my last meeting with them. After we returned home in the evening, I spoke with my wife. We talked about things like 'What did you do? How was your day?' Then, before going to bed, my daughter sent her last message at 23:43, saying, 'Good night, daddy.' We exchanged messages. She even sent a message extending it in her own jargon, saying 'bubacooiiimm.'
"THIS WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS THE 'KARTALKAYA MASSACRE'" Doğan emphasized that there was a chain of negligence in the hotel and used the following expressions: "This is an inhumanity, a murder. I already divide this situation into two: there is a chain of negligence and a chain of mistakes within itself. The most important mistake in the chain of mistakes is, unfortunately, that they did not warn the people there in time. They tried to extinguish the fire themselves, saying, 'Our prestige will be damaged.' However, they did not warn in time because they could not control the fire. In contrast, they were able to evacuate their own families without even getting a scratch because they warned them in time. I consider this situation a murder; I cannot say anything else. I even elevate this incident to the level of a massacre. This will go down in history as the 'Kartalkaya massacre.' When the fire broke out, they cut the electricity, and there were those who were locked in rooms where the backup batteries had run out. We are in a situation where no matter how you approach it, you are left with nothing."
"THEY WAITED 1.5 HOURS TO REPORT TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT" Rıfat Doğan, who stated that he spoke with other eyewitnesses, said, "According to what we learned from other eyewitnesses, the fire broke out around 02:00. I spoke with one of the hotel employees, and he told me, 'Brother, we knocked on the doors, we barely got out.' According to what he said, the fire broke out around 02:00. They waited 1.5 hours to report to the fire department. Unfortunately, they first tried to extinguish it themselves and then could not control it. An employee who was in the hotel at that moment and survived the fire said, 'We barely escaped. This fire broke out around 02:00, and because the power was cut, there were also those who were trapped in rooms where the backup batteries had run out. The doors could not be broken or opened,' he stated. I believe all these claims will come to light."
"HOTEL OWNERS SAVED THEIR RELATIVES FROM THE 12TH FLOOR" Ceren Doğan's father, businessman Yusuf Yaman, who could not hold back his tears, said he spoke with his daughter for the last time around 20:00 on Monday, January 20. He stated that he lived in Bodrum and came to Bolu as soon as he learned about the incident, continuing his words: "We learned about the incident from the television the next morning and quickly came to the hotel. Of course, we were hopeful. When I asked questions, they told me, 'They are not in the room.' When they said, 'They are not in the room,' I became hopeful. I wondered if they had survived? Were they injured? We came with hope. It turned out that the children could not get out of the hotel room at all; they had been poisoned. The fire broke out not at 03:30, but around 02:00-02:15, but the hotel owners saved their child, grandchild, and relatives from the 12th floor. They neglected the other floors, neglected the people, and tried to save their belongings. This is something we cannot digest, cannot endure, cannot accept. Acting with the thought that 'the image will be tarnished' is the greatest ignorance. Whoever is left there, whoever lives in that hotel, entrusts their lives to you. But you cannot protect these lives. A fire can always break out. There is no such thing as 'a fire will not break out.' This can be a mistake, but the mistake can be remedied. Nevertheless, in that huge hotel, the necessary precautions against fire, alarm systems, and other necessary measures were completely neglected. This is truly a shame."
"WHO WILL EXTINGUISH MY FIRE?" Yaman stated that this incident also dealt a blow to tourism, saying, "What did they do to Turkey? Not just to themselves, not just to people. They erased Turkey's image. A significant blow was dealt to Turkey as a tourist destination. This incident caused a blow. It cost so many lives. It was a place where successful students went to rest during the semester break. My granddaughter was studying at a science high school.
She entered with a degree, she was very successful. She had a promising future, but they took my daughter from me, they took my granddaughter. I call them 'Murderers'. I can't accept it, I am burning, I am burning. Who will extinguish my fire? I am burning. I haven't slept for a week, I can't sleep. Whoever is responsible should face the consequences. They should not go unpunished," she expressed.