24.01.2025 07:50
The information regarding the fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel, which claimed the lives of 78 people, has once again brought sorrow. It has been revealed that Halit Ergül, the owner of the hotel, whose royal suite was also found to be illegal, chose to invest money in a tunnel connecting his two hotels instead of addressing the critical deficiencies.
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In the Grand Kartal Hotel located in Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Resort, 78 people lost their lives in a fire that broke out on Tuesday night. After the fire, 12 people were detained, and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
In the report prepared by the Bolu Municipality Fire Department after the fire, it was stated regarding the cause of the incident, "Based on the statements of the hotel staff who first intervened in the fire and witnesses, as well as our examinations, it has been determined that the fire started from the kitchen/restaurant area located on the 4th floor."
HOTEL OWNER TOOK NO PRECAUTIONS
While the owner of the hotel, Halit Ergül, and the hotel management earn millions daily, it has been revealed that they did not take even the simplest fire precautions, such as smoke detectors, guiding signs during a fire, heat-resistant fire escapes, and doors.
THE KING SUITE WAS ILLEGAL AS WELL
According to a report in Hürriyet, the last two floors of the 12-story wooden hotel, which is known to have an illegal "king suite," do not have elevator access, and it remains a mystery why the operating license has not been revoked despite this knowledge.
CERTIFICATION DOCUMENTS IN QUESTION
While the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change amended the Fire Regulation in 2021, allowing until the end of 2024 for existing buildings to be made fire-compliant, it has emerged that the hotel owner did not lift a finger until the last week of December, and only began to take action to obtain a fire compliance certificate as the deadline approached. However, it is claimed that the hotel, which avoided fulfilling the 8-item deficiency list from the fire department, renewed its certificate through other means.
MILLIONS FUNNELED INTO THE TUNNEL
Due to the lack of security measures at Grand Kartal, 78 people lost their lives, and it has come to light that the hotel management constructed a special tunnel between the two hotels they own. These tunnels provide a safe passage between the restaurants of the two hotels owned by the same patron against the possibility of heavy snowfall and blizzards.
HOTEL SEALED
After the fire at Grand Kartal, search and rescue and cooling operations were completed as of 15:30 the day before yesterday. The Gendarmerie Search and Rescue (JAK) teams also conducted work to identify valuable items within the hotel. The collected valuable items were sent to the judicial deposit. The heavily damaged hotel was sealed. A tape was placed on the main entrance door of the hotel, and it was sealed.
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