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Türkiye Detains 11 over Ski Resort Hotel Fire That Killed 79

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya (C) speaks to the media outside a hotel where a fire broke out in the Kartalkaya Ski Resort in Bolu, northwestern Türkiye, on January 21, 2025. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya (C) speaks to the media outside a hotel where a fire broke out in the Kartalkaya Ski Resort in Bolu, northwestern Türkiye, on January 21, 2025. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)
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Türkiye Detains 11 over Ski Resort Hotel Fire That Killed 79

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya (C) speaks to the media outside a hotel where a fire broke out in the Kartalkaya Ski Resort in Bolu, northwestern Türkiye, on January 21, 2025. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya (C) speaks to the media outside a hotel where a fire broke out in the Kartalkaya Ski Resort in Bolu, northwestern Türkiye, on January 21, 2025. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)

Türkiye has detained 11 people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 79 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the Bolu mountains, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on Wednesday.

A deputy mayor of the northwestern Bolu province, the head of the municipality's fire department, the owner and the manager of the hotel were among those detained, Tunc said on X.

Several funerals were held on Wednesday for the victims of Tuesday's blaze, including numerous children. The fire forced panicked hotel guests to jump from windows in the middle of the night.

"Our hearts and souls are hurting," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a funeral for eight victims from the same family in Bolu in western Türkiye.

"I pray for patience for the entire family and our nation."

The bodies of 45 victims were handed over to their families, and forensic DNA tests were being conducted to identify the others, the government said.

Interior Minister on Tuesday had announced that 76 people had been killed in the fire, but the Bolu prosecutor's office updated the death toll to 79 on Wednesday evening following forensic DNA tests.

The fire occurred at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort, a 12-storey hotel which had 238 registered guests. It was consumed by flames after the blaze started on the restaurant floor around 3:30 a.m. (0030 GMT).

Some survivors said they heard no fire alarms during the incident and guests said they had to navigate smoke-filled corridors in complete darkness.

The hotel pledged full cooperation with the investigation and said it was "deeply saddened by the losses."

At one funeral in Ankara, the coffins of a family were lined up at the central Ahmet Hamdi Akseki mosque.

The parents, a doctor and teacher, had gone to Kartalkaya with their three children to ski during a school break, according to a Reuters witness at the funeral.

At least 20 of the fire victims were children, according to local media reports.

Erdogan declared Wednesday a day of national mourning following the tragedy, which occurred during the peak of the winter tourism season, with many families from Istanbul and Ankara travelling to the Bolu mountains to ski. 

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Gabbard Calls Signal Chats a ‘Mistake’ as Trump Officials Face Grilling over Leaked Military Plan

(L-R) Director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Timothy Haugh; FBI Director, Kash Patel; Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard; CIA Director, John Ratcliffe; and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse testify before a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on "Worldwide Threats," on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2025. (AFP)
(L-R) Director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Timothy Haugh; FBI Director, Kash Patel; Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard; CIA Director, John Ratcliffe; and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse testify before a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on "Worldwide Threats," on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2025. (AFP)
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Gabbard Calls Signal Chats a ‘Mistake’ as Trump Officials Face Grilling over Leaked Military Plan

(L-R) Director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Timothy Haugh; FBI Director, Kash Patel; Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard; CIA Director, John Ratcliffe; and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse testify before a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on "Worldwide Threats," on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2025. (AFP)
(L-R) Director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Timothy Haugh; FBI Director, Kash Patel; Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard; CIA Director, John Ratcliffe; and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse testify before a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on "Worldwide Threats," on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2025. (AFP)

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Wednesday it was a "mistake" for national security officials to discuss sensitive military plans on a group text chain that also included a journalist — a leak that has roiled President Donald Trump's national security leadership.

Speaking before the House Intelligence Committee, Gabbard said the conversation included "candid and sensitive" information about military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. But as she told senators during testimony on Tuesday, she said the texts did not contain any classified information.

"It was a mistake that a reporter was inadvertently added," Gabbard said.

Wednesday's hearing was called to discuss an updated report on national security threats facing the US Instead, much of the focus was on the text chain, which included Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and other top officials.

Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was also added, and on Wednesday his publication released more details from the chats, showing the level of detail they offered about the strikes.

Democrats have demanded an investigation into the sloppy communication, saying it may have exposed sensitive military information that could have jeopardized the mission or put US service members at risk.

The National Security Council has said it will investigate the matter, which Trump on Tuesday downplayed as a "glitch." Goldberg said he received the Signal invitation from Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, who was in the group chat and has taken responsibility for the lapse.

Even though the texts contained detailed information on military actions, Gabbard, Ratcliffe and the White House have all said none of the information was classified — an assertion Democrats flatly rejected on Wednesday.

"You all know that's a lie," Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, told Ratcliffe and Gabbard, who said that any decisions to classify or declassify military information falls to the secretary of defense.

Several Democrats on the panel said Hegseth should resign because of the leak.

"This is classified information. It’s a weapon system, as well as a sequence of strikes, as well as details of the operations," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois. "He needs to resign immediately."

Ratcliffe defended his use of Signal as "appropriate" and said questions over the Signal leak have overshadowed the military operation targeting the Houthis.

"What is most important is that the mission was a remarkable success," he told lawmakers. "That’s what did happen, not what possibly could have happened."

The discussion at times grew heated as Ratcliffe and Democratic lawmakers spoke over one another. At one point, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, an Illinois Democrat, asked whether he knew whether Hegseth was drinking alcohol when he participated in the chat.

"I think that’s an offensive line of questioning," Ratcliffe angrily replied. "The answer is no."

Ratcliffe and Gomez then began shouting over each other as Gomez sought to ask a follow-up question. "We want to know if his performance is compromised," Gomez said.

Wednesday's hearing was called to discuss the intelligence community's annual report on threats to American national security. The report lists China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as strategic adversaries, and notes that drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations pose other threats to Americans.

The presentations from top Trump appointees reflect Trump's foreign policy priorities, including a focus on combating the flow of fentanyl, illegal immigration and human trafficking, and are taking place as Trump attempts to work out a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine three years after Russia's invasion.