What led to the Turkey hotel fire disaster that killed 79 people?

The occurrence that killed astatine slightest 79 radical astatine the Grand Kartal Hotel successful the aboriginal hours of Monday is 1 of the deadliest disasters of its benignant successful Turkish history.

Some survivors person said they did not perceive an alarm and experts person told the BBC they would not person expected specified a precocious decease toll successful a edifice wherever occurrence extortion systems were moving properly.

The 12-storey edifice astatine Turkey's fashionable Kartalkaya skis edifice hosts tens of thousands of visitors each year, truthful Turks understandably privation to cognize however specified a unspeakable calamity could person happened astatine the commencement of a two-week schoolhouse holiday.

The interior curate said the occurrence started astatine 03:27 (00:27 GMT) successful the edifice country connected the 4th level and firefighters arrived wrong 45 minutes.

Some survivors person described smelling fume arsenic overmuch arsenic an hr earlier.

Culture and Tourism curate Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the edifice had a occurrence competence certificate "issued by the occurrence department".

But that has been challenged by section politician Tanju Ozcan, who said the occurrence section had not issued a affirmative study since 2007.

Some survivors accidental they heard nary alarm, portion determination person been claims of inadequacies successful the hotel's occurrence extinguishing systems.

"My woman smelled the fire," said Atakan Yelkovan, who said helium was staying connected the 3rd level of the hotel.

"We went down earlier than others. The alarm did not spell off... It took astir an hr to an hour-ad-a-half for the occurrence brigade to come. In the meantime, the 4th and 5th floors were burning. People connected the precocious floors were screaming."

Some guests connected higher floors tried to flight with their bedding and immoderate jumped to their deaths.

Eylem Senturk said the occurrence alarm did not spell disconnected until she was retired of the building. Her hubby had to leap disconnected the edifice structure due to the fact that of the smoke: "We are precise fortunate to person survived."

The BBC has tried to interaction the hotel's managers regarding these allegations but has truthful acold received nary response.

Eleven people, including the edifice owner, person been detained arsenic portion of the Turkish investigation.

Hotel managers person issued a connection saying they mourn the losses and are co-operating afloat with the authorities.

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In specified a large gathering wherever occurrence systems are afloat operational, experts accidental occurrence detectors are expected to respond to a occurrence wrong seconds and nonstop an alert to a occurrence power dashboard.

"In a bully business, determination should beryllium idiosyncratic successful complaint of this sheet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," Kazim Beceren, president of the Turkish Fire Protection and Education Foundation, told the BBC.

The decease toll is besides highly high, which raises further questions.

"There volition ever beryllium fires, but we would not expect truthful galore radical to dice successful this benignant of building," said Prof Sevket Ozgur Atayilmaz, caput of the Mechanical Engineering Department astatine Yildiz Technical University, who has worked connected occurrence information planning.

"If the operation is designed correctly for fire, if determination are flight routes, and if the fume is evacuated correctly, it is imaginable to flooded the occurrence without nonaccomplishment of life."

The interior curate said determination were 2 occurrence escapes, but determination are indications they were not of a bully standard.

An authoritative from the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) successful Bolu, Erol Percin, said the mode the occurrence had dispersed suggested that occurrence warning, detection and extinguishing systems mightiness not person been present.

He said the building's exterior woody facade should person been 100% fire-resistant, but that did not look to beryllium the case.

The caput of the Turkish Fire Protection and Education Foundation told the BBC that the size of the occurrence suggested that "the occurrence strategy either does not beryllium oregon was not designed successful accordance with the standards".

There were 238 radical staying successful the Grand Kartal Hotel astatine the time.

Kazim Beceren said occurrence information systems were designed with the purpose of taking 3 minutes to evacuate each level - and a installation with much than 200 radical could beryllium evacuated successful 15 to 30 minutes nether perfect conditions.

When an alarm goes off, the idiosyncratic successful complaint of the occurrence power dashboard is expected to cheque the location, according to the caput of the Turkish Fire Protection and Education Foundation.

If determination is nary denotation of a mendacious alarm oregon if a 2nd detector sends a warning, occurrence alarms are past usually activated passim the building.

In a decently installed system, radical are past directed by announcement to the nearest occurrence exits, with flashing lights for radical who are hearing-impaired oregon audible warnings for those sleeping.

As fires tin dispersed precise quickly, sprinkler systems are seen arsenic highly important for involution astatine an aboriginal stage.

So excessively is simply a back-up powerfulness source. According to occurrence extortion regulations, signs pointing to exigency exits and lights showing the paths to these exits person to enactment for 1 to 3 hours, adjacent if determination is simply a powerfulness outage.

The engineers' and architects' national successful Bolu said successful a connection that "an automatic sprinkler strategy is mandatory" successful buildings of this size.

"The photos connected the hotel's website amusement that the automatic sprinkler system, which was expected to beryllium installed successful 2008, was not installed. Because of this failure, the occurrence dispersed rapidly and determination were casualties."

BBC Turkish has not been capable to independently corroborate the allegations astir either the woody cladding connected the gathering oregon the hotel's occurrence extinguishing system.

One of the large questions is whether the hotel's occurrence systems were decently inspected.

Bolu Mayor Tanju Ozcan said the ministry of tourism was liable arsenic the edifice was beyond the bound of his town. Erol Percin agreed.

The politician said that the past clip Bolu's municipality had fixed a study stating the edifice was fireproof was successful 2007, and determination had been nary specified checks since then.

However, Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the edifice did person a occurrence competence certificate "issued by the occurrence department" and inspections were down to them.

There person besides been calls for comparatively aged structures to travel nether scrutiny due to the fact that of changing legislation.

"Places should halt operating if they bash not comply with existent standards, successful crowded places specified arsenic hotels, residences, nursing homes oregon kindergartens," says Prof Atayilmaz of Yildiz Technical University.