BOLU — 2025 · Major Tragedy

Kartalkaya Hotel Fire

SolvedSources: ALast updated: 14 October 2026

On the night of 21 January 2025, fire broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort, Bolu. The hotel was full for the mid-term school holiday; 78 people, many of them children, were killed and 137 injured. The trial of 32 defendants concluded at the Bolu 1st High Criminal Court on 31 October 2025. The court sentenced 11 defendants, including hotel managers found to have ignored known fire risks, to life imprisonment for murder with possible intent, and 21 others to various prison terms; three were acquitted. The regional appeals court found the verdict lawful.

Date: 2025
Place: Kartalkaya, Bolu
Category: Major Tragedy
Case Status: Solved
Coordinates: 40.6200, 31.7400 ↗

Timeline of Events

21 January 2025Fire broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel; 78 died.
2025The 32-defendant trial opened in Bolu.
31 October 202511 defendants received life sentences for murder with possible intent.
8 December 2025A 406-page reasoned judgment was issued.
AfterwardsThe Sakarya regional appeals court upheld the verdict.

Sources

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