Witnesses say guests at a ski resort hotel in Turkey tried to escape a deadly fire with ropes and sheets hung from windows.

Ali Yerlikaya said at least 51 other people were injured in the disaster that struck the Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during the schools' semester break, when hotels in the region are packed.

A fire engulfed a hotel at the popular Kartalkaya ski resort in northwestern Turkey early Tuesday, killing 10 people died and injuring 32 others, the interior minister said.The health, interior and culture ministers are expected to visit the site later in the day. fo/hmw/ach

The fire in the 12-story hotel was reported at 3:27 a.m., and the fire department began to respond at 4:15 a.m., a government official said.

ANKARA, Turkey — A fire raged through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey early Tuesday during a school holiday, killing at least 66 people — at least two of them when they jumped from the building to escape the flames, officials said.

Outrage over alleged safety failures at a 12-storey hotel in Turkey has escalated into a political clash between the government and the opposition-run local authorities, after a fire killed 79 people and injured more than 50.

A day of mourning is under way in Turkey for the 79 victims of a fire that engulfed a popular ski resort hotel in the country's north-west. The fire broke out at the wooden-clad 12-storey Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu at 03:27 local time (00:27 GMT) during a busy holiday period when 234 people were staying there.

Turkey has detained nine people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 76 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the Bolu mountains, authorities said.