Ski star Berkin Usta and his father died in a fire at a closed resort in Türkiye's northwestern Bursa province on March 27.
The Kervansaray Hotel in Uludag, Bursa province, had no guests when the fire started at 5:30 a.m. but 12 staff were there, the Bursa governor's office said. Some people suffering from smoke inhalation were taken to hospital. Bursa governor Mustafa Bozbey said the fire broke out in the canteen. Prosecutors have opened an investigation. The Anadolu news agency later said the hotel manager had been detained.
A relative of Berkin Usta’s family survived after staying on the fifth floor of the hotel. Authorities have not said why they were staying there or whether any of them were employees.
Television footage showed flames quickly engulfing the six-story hotel, which sits on the slopes of one of Türkiye’s most popular ski destinations, less than a three-hour drive from Istanbul. Firefighters brought the blaze under control within two hours, but the top floors were completely destroyed.
The 30-year-old hotel was closed in early January when its occupancy permit was revoked, the governor’s office said.
"I am deeply saddened to learn that national athlete Berkin Usta and his father, Yahya Usta, have died in a fire at a hotel," Sports Minister Osman Askin Bak said.
The 25-year-old athlete was to represent Turkey at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. His father is the president of the Turkish Ski and Snowboard Teachers' Association. The incident comes just two months after a fire at another Turkish winter resort killed 79 people.
In January, a 12-storey hotel in a ski resort in northwestern Turkey caught fire during a school holiday, killing 79 people. The fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya in the Koroglu Mountains of Bolu province also started in the hotel's dining area.