High-profile trial for deadly hotel fire that killed 78 opens in Turkey

ISTANBUL (AP) — A total of 32 defendants went on trial on Monday over a deadly fire that tore through a popular ski resort hotel, killing 78 people and injuring 133 others.

The Jan. 21 fire hit the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel at the Kartalkaya ski resort in the province of Bolu during the winter school break. Dozens of children taking family vacations were among the victims.

The tragedy, which saw guests and staff jump out of windows to escape smoke and flame-filled rooms or dangle sheets out of windows to lower themselves down, sent shockwaves across Turkey and sparked widespread calls for accountability over negligence and safety violations.

Thirteen of the defendants face potential jail terms of 1,998 years each on charges of killing or wounding with possible intent, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency, citing a 98-page indictment from the Bolu Public Prosecutor’s Office. The 19 others are charged with negligently causing death or injury, for which they could be jailed for 22½ years.

With 210 plaintiffs and 32 defendants involved in the high-profile case, the trial is taking place at a sports center in Bolu that has been temporarily converted into a 700-seat courtroom to accommodate the proceedings, Anadolu reported.

On Monday, family members and friends of the victims staged a demonstration outside the sports center, holding up posters of their loved ones and demanding justice.

“This is not neglect, it is murder,” the Anadolu Agency quoted Zeynep Kotan, the mother of 17-year-old Omur Kotan, who lost her life in the fire, as saying.

The fire started at 3.17 a.m. local time as a spark from an electric grill plate in the fourth-floor kitchen lit a nearby garbage bin before melting the hose of a liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, and igniting the gas.

Staff first noticed the flames at 3.24 a.m. and called the emergency services but within two minutes the blaze had “exceeded controllable limits,” according to the indictment.

The blaze took hold of the wooden ceiling, accelerated by the flow of air from a door left open by escaping kitchen staff.

The indictment says that inadequate measures on the stairs and elevators and the lack of a smoke extraction system caused flammable and toxic fumes to swiftly spread to the upper floors, filling corridors with smoke.

The lack of emergency alarms, faulty fire detection and warning systems and insufficient staff fire training meant the hotel’s 238 guests were not alerted to the blaze in time.

Escape routes through the stairways and emergency exits were not properly fitted and there was no sprinkler system, turning the hotel’s stairwells and life shafts into “chimneys” for the smoke to quickly reach the upper floors.

The indictment adds that the absence of emergency lighting, fire escape signs and alternative exits stopped the safe evacuation of guests.

The 14-day trial will hear that legal responsibility lay with owner Halit Ergul and company board members, including his wife and daughters, and managers.

Also facing the higher punishment are Bolu’s deputy mayor and deputy fire chief. Those facing the lesser charges consist of hotel staff, inspection officials and maintenance workers.

The hotel first opened in 1999 and has been operated by Ergul’s company since 2007.

In a statement to prosecutors made within days of the fire, Ergul said the hotel was checked for fire safety every two years by government-authorized inspectors before receiving a tourism certificate, allowing it to operate. The most recent certificate was due to expire in March.

The hotel’s last inspection by the Culture and Tourism Ministry was conducted five weeks before the fire, Ergul said.

PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — Thousands of daredevils ran, skidded and tumbled out of the way of a stampeding group of bulls at the opening run of the San Fermín festival Monday.

It was the first of nine morning runs or “encierros” during the famous celebrations held in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona.

The bulls pounded along the twisting cobblestone streets after being led by six steers. Up to 4,000 runners take part in each bull run, which takes place over 846 meters (2,775 feet) and can last two to four minutes.

Most runners wear the traditional garb of white trousers and shirt with red sash and neckerchief. The expert Spanish runners try to sprint just in front of the bull’s horns for a few death-defying seconds while egging the animal on with a rolled newspaper.

Thousands of spectators watched from balconies and wooden barricades along the course. Millions more follow the visceral spectacle on live television.

The festival kicked off Sunday with the traditional “chupinazo” firework blast after which revelers doused one another with red or sparkling wine.

While gorings are not rare, many more people are bruised and injured in falls and pileups with each other. Medics rush in to treat the injured and take the seriously hurt to a hospital.

On Monday, Spanish newspaper El País reported that a few revelers had been injured, but it wasn’t clear if their injuries were from gorings.

Unofficial records say at least 15 people have died in the bull runs over the past century. The deadliest day on record was July 13, 1980, when four runners were killed by two bulls. The last death was in 2009.

The rest of each day is for eating, drinking, dancing and cultural entertainment, including bull fights where the animals that run in the morning are slain in the bull ring by professional matadors each afternoon.

The festival isn’t without its detractors. On Saturday, animal rights activists marched through Pamplona wearing horns and splotched with fake blood in protest against the San Fermin bull runs. Some held up signs saying “bullfights are a sin.”

The festival was made internationally famous by Ernest Hemingway’s classic 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises,” about American bohemians wasting away in Europe.

Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.