Desperate guests leapt from windows during Turkish ski resort fire that killed 66

Desperate guests at a Turkish ski resort that exploded into flames tried to escape using bedsheets as ropes hanging from the windows, while others died after trying to jump to safety.The number of dead at the ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday rose to 66, the interior minister said.Several ministers have arrived at the scene at the Kartalkaya resort around 170 kilometers northwest of the capital Ankara, and officials said the fire had now been contained.“Our pain is great,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters at Kartalkaya.“66 citizens lost their lives and 51 others wounded.”The blaze broke out shortly after midnight local time in the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel, which has wooden cladding, he said.Some 238 guests were registered as staying at the hotel, the minister added, a peak time during a two-week school holiday.A private NTV broadcaster said the dead included three people who had jumped from the hotel’s windows.The fire is believed to have started in the restaurant and spread quickly, though it was not immediately clear what caused it.Part of the structure backs onto a cliff, making it harder for firefighters to tackle the blaze.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut short an address to his ruling AKP party congress in Ankara, saying: “Our pain is great, our heartache is great.”He said administrative and judicial investigations have been launched into the cause of the fire.“All necessary steps will be taken to shed light on all aspects of the incident and to hold those responsible accountable,” he promised.Television footage showed huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky with a snow-capped mountain behind the hotel.“I heard screams around midnight, (hotel) residents were shouting for help,” Baris Salgur, who works at a nearby hotel, told NTV television.“They asked for a blanket, saying they will jump.We did what we could, we brought rope, pillows, we brought a sofa.

Some people threw themselves once the flames approac...