Berkin, 24, and his father, Yahya, 57, died following a fire that broke out on Thursday at the Kervansaray hotel in the northwest of the country.
Berkin Usta was only 24 years old. Photo: X.
Berkin represented Turkey at the Beijing 2022 winter OJ, finishing 43rd in Slalom Huge, while Yahya was the president of the Ski and Snowboard teachers’ Association, according to news.ro.
“We found out with deep sadness that our national skier Berkin Usta, who represented our country at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and at the Winter Olympic Festival of European Youth Erzurum 2017, and his father, former national skier Yahya Usta, died due to a fire at a hotel in Uludağ,” posted Team Turkey on X.
The hotel had no guests when the fire broke out, at 5.30 in the morning, but 12 staff members were present. Several people who inhaled smoke have been hospitalized.
Prosecutors have launched a fire investigation, and the hotel director was detained, according to Anadolu State Agency.
The 30 -year -old hotel was closed in early January, when the accommodation permit was canceled.
The authorities did not say why the two and Yahya’s wife, who survived, were staying there or if any of them were a member of the staff.
“I learned about the tragic death of the Turkish Olympic skier Berkin Usta and his father, in a terrible fire.”said the chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach. “Berkin lived his Olympic dream competing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Our thoughts are with their family and friends. ”
The mayor of the Stock Exchange, Mustafa Bozbey, told the Associated Press that the fire broke out in the buffet.
The television images showed how the flames rapidly included the six -storey hotel, which is located on the slopes of one of the most popular ski destinations in Turkey, less than three hours by car by Istanbul. Fire crews controlled the fire in two hours, but not before the upper floors were destroyed.
“I found out with deep sadness that our national athlete Berkin Usa and his father Yahya Usta lost their lives in the fire that broke out in the hotel. “said the Turkish Minister of Sport, Osman Ashkin Bak.
The fire takes place two months after a fire at another winter resort in northwestern Turkey resulted in 79 dead.
The January fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in the Köroğlu Mountains in Bolu province, broke out in the hotel’s dining area. On Wednesday, Anadolu reported new arrests related to the Grand Kartal fire, raising the number of people in detention.
