Turkey sentences 11 people to life in prison over ski resort hotel fire

Istanbul: A Turkish court sentenced 11 people to life in prison on Friday over a fire that killed 78 people at a ski resort in northwest Turkey's Bolu mountains in January, state media reported.

Halit Ergul, owner of the Grand Kartal Hotel where the blaze erupted, was among the 11 defendants given aggravated life sentences by the court in Bolu province, according to state-run broadcaster TRT Haber.

Thirty-four children were among those killed in the fire, which occurred during school holidays when many families from nearby Istanbul and Ankara head to the Bolu mountains to ski. Another 137 people suffered injuries.

There were a total of 32 defendants in the trial, 20 of them in pre-trial detention, TRT said. Besides Ergul, the accused included hotel board members, managers and staff, as well as a deputy mayor and fire brigade personnel.

The disaster had triggered calls for accountability and reform. Independent experts said the hotel, at the Kartalkaya ski resort, lacked basic fire safety measures.

The blaze started in the restaurant floor of the 12-storey building, where 238 guests were staying. It forced panicked hotel guests to jump from windows in the middle of the night.