05.03.2025 10:00
The last words of 10-year-old Alya, who lost her life in a fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu Kartalkaya along with her mother, have touched the hearts of millions. In a video, Alya excitedly described the vacation they were going to take, saying, "We are very lucky because there was a spot available at Grand Kartal, and we made a reservation. We will be going on a skiing holiday as a family."
In the fire that broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu Kartalkaya, 78 people lost their lives, including 36 children. Among those who lost their lives in the fire, which occurred due to a chain of negligence, were Dr. Kübra Tonguç Altın, a faculty member at Yeditepe University, and her 10-year-old daughter Alya Altın. While the painful traces of the fire disaster that deeply affected Turkey are still fresh, a video shared by Hilmi Altın, who lost his wife Kübra and daughter Alya, has touched the hearts of millions on social media.
"WE ARE VERY LUCKY BECAUSE THERE WAS ROOM AT GRAND KARTAL"
Hilmi Altın, who shared a video of his daughter Alya taken days before the disaster on his social media account, wrote, "We are very lucky...". Little Alya's excited narration of their upcoming vacation deeply affected the viewers. In the video, Alya said, "We are very lucky because there was room at Grand Kartal, and we made a reservation. We will go on vacation together, skiing. Also, my mom asked our sister Banu, who works at ETS Tur, 'Can you try to get a room next to Derin's family?' My sister Banu works too, but if it doesn't happen, it's okay. At least we are going on vacation together."
"A MASSACRE WAS COMMITTED BEFORE OUR EYES"
In a post he made after the fire, Hilmi Altın described the horror they experienced and stated that he would fight with all his might to ensure that those responsible receive the punishment they deserve. Hilmi Altın said, "When we first went to that hotel, we were two families, wanting to fulfill the vacation desires 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, our 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 were returned to their families and us. May God bless everyone who rushed to help others in that room and that hotel at the cost of their own lives. It was a huge struggle for survival. However, this was not an unfortunate event! A massacre was committed before our eyes. We were literally told in that hotel to choose our deaths." he stated.