January 22, Ankara According to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, nine persons have been placed under arrest after the tragic incident that claimed 76 lives at Turkey’s Kartalkaya ski resort in the northwest Bolu region.

According to the Xinhua news agency, Yerlikaya announced that search and rescue efforts at the location are now complete while addressing reporters on the scene on Tuesday.

The motel owner is also among the prisoners.

“Unfortunately, there are now 76 people dead. Investigations are still on, and our teams have concluded their search,” he said.

On Wednesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, announced a day of national mourning.

“A one-day national mourning has been declared across the country tomorrow,” Erdogan apologized to the victims’ families during a news conference after a cabinet meeting.

“Those who caused such a disaster in any way, those who have negligence and fault will be held accountable before the law,” the president of Turkey said.

17 of the injured have been released, he said, while the remaining injured, one of whom is in critical condition, are still being treated.

The 12-story wooden hotel, which was housing 238 guests during the busy Christmas season, caught fire at 03:27 local time.

The governor of Bolu Province, Abdulaziz Aydin, said that preliminary investigations indicate the fire began in the restaurant area on the fourth level before moving higher.

Firefighters, search and rescue teams, and medical personnel were sent from the city center, neighboring districts, and outlying regions as soon as they received the warning.

As firefighting operations proceeded, officials evacuated some 230 guests from the hotel, according to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.

“Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said a judicial investigation was initiated by the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, with six public prosecutors assigned, and a five-person expert committee formed,” the report said.

Located around 300 kilometers east of Istanbul in the Koroglu mountains lies the well-known ski resort of Kartalkaya.

According to the hotel’s website, it has been a popular spot for Turkish skiers since 1978. The resort provides direct access to 23 slopes that are owned by the hotel and total 20 kilometers in length.

Situated on the route between Istanbul and Ankara, Bolu is a city in northern Turkey that serves as the administrative hub of both the Bolu Province and the Bolu District.

Situated at the summit of the Koroglu Mountains, the 60,000-square-meter ski and mountain hotel is 38 kilometers from the center of Bolu and 180 kilometers from Ankara and Istanbul.