A fire at a popular ski hotel in Turkey results in the death of 66 individuals.

At least 66 people were killed in a fire at a hotel in a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, according to the country's Interior Minister.

Ali Yerlikaya said at least 51 other people were injured in the disaster.

The fire at this hotel resulted in the tragic loss of 66 lives, as stated by Yerlikaya to reporters following the inspection.

At least one of the injured is in serious condition, according to Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., a fire occurred in the restaurant of the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province. Officials and reports are investigating the cause of the fire.

According to Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin, two people died after jumping from a building in a state of panic, while NTV reported that some individuals attempted to descend from their rooms using sheets and blankets.

There were 234 guests staying at the hotel, Aydin said.

Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building. He then helped some 20 guests escape the hotel.

The fire escape was hard to find for guests because the hotel was surrounded by smoke.

The ski instructor informed the station that he couldn't contact some of his students and hoped they were safe.

Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.

The hotel's fire detection system did not function according to witnesses and reports.

"The alarm did not go off, but my wife smelled the burning," Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor of the hotel, informed the IHA news agency.

He said, "We attempted to ascend but were unable to do so due to flames. We descended and ended up outside."

Yelkovan said it took about an hour for the firefighting teams to arrive.

"On the upper floors, people were screaming and hanging down sheets. Some tried to jump," he said.

The government appointed six prosecutors to investigate the cause of the fire. NTV suggested that the wooden cladding on the hotel's exterior, in a chalet-style design, may have contributed to the fire's spread.

The hotel, with 161 rooms, is situated on a cliff, making it difficult to fight the fire, according to the station's report.

The lobby of NTV was shown with a blackened smoke appearance, its glass entrance and windows shattered, its wooden reception desk burned, and a chandelier fallen to the ground.

Kartalkaya, a well-known ski resort in the Koroglu mountains, is located approximately 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Istanbul. The fire took place during the school semester break, when hotels in the region were at their peak occupancy.

The site received 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances from Aydin's office.

Guests were relocated to hotels around Bolu after other hotels at the resort were evacuated as a precaution.

At a hotel in central Turkey, a gas explosion occurred, injuring four people.

At the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Center in Sivas province, an explosion occurred, resulting in injuries to two skiers and their instructor, as well as second-degree burns on the hands and face of another instructor, according to the Sivas governor's office.