The interior minister reported that a fire destroyed a hotel in a northwestern Turkish ski resort on Tuesday. At least 66 people were killed and 32 injured. Video footage showed sheets of bedsheets hanging out the windows. Witnesses reported that desperate guests tried to escape by using ropes. Some media reports claimed that people died while trying to jump from the windows.

“Our pain is immense,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said to reporters in the Kartalkaya Resort, located about 100 miles north of Ankara. “Sixty-six citizens were killed and another 51 injured.”

The fire was contained by other cabinet members who also visited the site. The fire started at 3:27 am (7:27 pm Eastern time) on Monday morning in the Grand Kartal Hotel, which is clad with wooden panels, Yerlikaya reported earlier.

Local media reported that at least 230 guests were at the hotel during a 2-week holiday.

In a social media post, Turkey’s Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc stated that four people were detained, including the owner, as part of a six-prosecutor investigation.

NTV, a private broadcaster, said that three of the dead were people who jumped out the windows of the hotel.

It is not yet known what caused the fire, but it appears to have spread rapidly from the restaurant.

The fire was made more difficult by the fact that part of the hotel is located on a cliff.

On Turkish television, a video showed massive plumes of smoke rising to the sky and a mountain capped with snow behind the hotel.

“I heard screams around midnight, (hotel) residents were shouting for help,” Baris Salgur, who works at a nearby hotel, told NTV television. “They asked for a blanket, saying they will jump… we did what we could, we brought rope, pillows, we brought a sofa. Some people threw themselves once the flames approached them.”

Officials expressed concern that the death toll could rise.

The video showed the wrecked hotel lobby with glass shards on the floor and the reception desk, as well as the wood furniture charred black.

The building collapsed, according to authorities.

One survivor, who was able to escape the flames, told the local media that the hotel had no fire alarms when the fire began. He complained of the lack of safety measures like fire stairs and smoke detectors.

On X, President Recep T. Tayyip said: “I pray that God has mercy on our citizens who have lost their lives in this fire.”

He said that he wished for a quick recovery of the injured victims in “this tragic accident” and added that an investigation was underway.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc announced that six prosecutors were assigned to the investigation.

The evacuated people were housed in hotels nearby.