Turkish court hands 11 life sentences over ski resort blaze

Ankara [Turkiye], November 2: A Turkish court has sentenced 11 people to life in prison over a fire that killed 78 people at a hotel in a ski resort in northwest Turkiye's Bolu mountains in January.
Among those sentenced on Friday were Halit Ergul - the owner of the Grand Kartal Hotel, which sits in the Kartalkaya ski resort about 295km east of Istanbul - according to state-run broadcaster TRT Haber.
The court also sentenced Ergul's wife, Emine Ergul, and their daughters, Elif Aras and Ceyda Hacibekiroglu - all of whom were part of the hotel's management team. The deadly blaze broke out overnight in the restaurant of the Grand Kartal on January 21, quickly engulfing the 12-storey hotel, where 238 guests were staying.
Thirty-four children were among 78 people killed in the fire, which occurred during the school holidays when many families from Ankara and Istanbul head to the Bolu mountains to ski. Another 137 people suffered injuries during the incident, as panicked hotel guests were forced to jump from windows in the middle of the night.
Also sentenced on Friday were the hotel's general manager, Emir Aras, as well as the deputy mayor of Bolu, Sedat Gulener, and the director of another hotel, Ahmet Demir, both of whom were reportedly on the board of directors of the company that owned the Grand Kartal. (Agencies)
Source:Qatar Tribune