High-profile trial for deadly hotel fire that killed 78 opens in Turkey
The Jan. 21 fire hit the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel at the Kartalkaya ski resort in the province of Bolu during the winter school break. Dozens of children taking family vacations were among the victims.
The tragedy, which saw guests and staff jump out of windows to escape smoke and flame-filled rooms or dangle sheets out of windows to lower themselves down, sent shockwaves across Turkey and sparked widespread calls for accountability over negligence and safety violations.
Thirteen of the defendants face potential jail terms of 1,998 years each on charges of killing or wounding with possible intent, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency, citing a 98-page indictment from the Bolu Public Prosecutor's Office. The 19 others are charged with negligently causing death or injury, for which they could be jailed for 22½ years.
With 210 plaintiffs and 32 defendants involved in the high-profile case, the trial is taking place at a sports center in Bolu that has been temporarily converted into a 700-seat courtroom to accommodate the proceedings, Anadolu reported.
On Monday, family members and friends of the victims staged a demonstration outside the sports center, holding up posters of their loved ones and demanding justice.
'This is not neglect, it is murder,' the Anadolu Agency quoted Zeynep Kotan, the mother of 17-year-old Omur Kotan, who lost her life in the fire, as saying.
The fire started at 3.17 a.m. local time as a spark from an electric grill plate in the fourth-floor kitchen lit a nearby garbage bin before melting the hose of a liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, and igniting the gas.
Staff first noticed the flames at 3.24 a.m. and called the emergency services but within two minutes the blaze had 'exceeded controllable limits,' according to the indictment.
The blaze took hold of the wooden ceiling, accelerated by the flow of air from a door left open by escaping kitchen staff.
The indictment says that inadequate measures on the stairs and elevators and the lack of a smoke extraction system caused flammable and toxic fumes to swiftly spread to the upper floors, filling corridors with smoke.
The lack of emergency alarms, faulty fire detection and warning systems and insufficient staff fire training meant the hotel's 238 guests were not alerted to the blaze in time.
Escape routes through the stairways and emergency exits were not properly fitted and there was no sprinkler system, turning the hotel's stairwells and life shafts into 'chimneys' for the smoke to quickly reach the upper floors.
The indictment adds that the absence of emergency lighting, fire escape signs and alternative exits stopped the safe evacuation of guests.
The 14-day trial will hear that legal responsibility lay with owner Halit Ergul and company board members, including his wife and daughters, and managers.
Also facing the higher punishment are Bolu's deputy mayor and deputy fire chief. Those facing the lesser charges consist of hotel staff, inspection officials and maintenance workers.
The hotel first opened in 1999 and has been operated by Ergul's company since 2007.
In a statement to prosecutors made within days of the fire, Ergul said the hotel was checked for fire safety every two years by government-authorized inspectors before receiving a tourism certificate, allowing it to operate. The most recent certificate was due to expire in March.
The hotel's last inspection by the Culture and Tourism Ministry was conducted five weeks before the fire, Ergul said.
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Times
42 minutes ago
- Times
Times letters: Junking juries and the pursuit of swift justice
Write to letters@ Sir, I agree with Frances Gibb ('Don't assume that junking juries will speed up justice', comment, Jul 7) and unless strong and immediate opposition is mounted to resist any further attempts to dilute trial by jury, in my opinion it can only be a matter of time before it is abolished altogether. Chronic under-funding is not solved by creating a parallel system with inadequate resources, human and financial, as well as fewer safeguards against miscarriages of justice. Trial by jury is slower and more expensive than trial by judge and magistrates, but we should cherish and protect a system that puts the right to a fair trial by an impartial tribunal — the jury — before anything else. Ronald Thwaites KC Esher, Surrey Sir, I prosecuted many fraud cases during my career at the Bar ('Fraud suspects 'will lose their right to jury trial' ', news, Jul 5). The essential question in all of these cases was the same: namely, was the defendant behaving honestly or not. That is classically a question for a jury to use their varied worldly knowledge and experience to determine and my experience was that they did so very well. Of course, they were always directed that they must be sure of guilt to convict and must acquit in cases of reasonable doubt, which sometimes produced acquittals in cases where a single judge (or I) would probably have convicted. Cost and delay are, no doubt, concerns, but I would be very reluctant to make fundamental changes to a system which has served the interests of justice so well for so many years. Lawrence Griffiths Prosecuting counsel to HM Inland Revenue, 1969-93; standing counsel to HM Customs and Excise, 1989-93 Sir, The indication that specialist judges might in future preside over fraud trials represents common sense, not simply a means of reducing the huge backlog of cases. Some years ago I followed closely a particular trial at Southwark crown court. The first day was mostly taken up with the selection of a jury for a trial expected to last for at least two months. The judge heard pleas from potential jurors who had holidays booked and various medical appointments to attend, but the day was crowned by one candidate who stood up and said she simply could not concentrate for that amount of time. She was excused. When the trial began, there were long explanations about how a profit and loss account is compiled, accrual accounting and revenue recognition in a technology business. It became obvious to those of us in the visitors' gallery that three or four of the jurors had little idea of what was going on. Sure enough, many weeks later the jury failed to reach a verdict and the trial collapsed. Several years later I met someone at the Financial Conduct Authority, who explained that this had been one of the simpler cases and it could not contemplate taking many of the more complex ones to court. John White Petworth, W Sussex Sir, I have had more than 50 years' practice in the criminal courts (both prosecuting and defending, and also as a judge). I think it is quite wrong for any one person to be able to decide on guilt or innocence followed by a potentially long sentence of imprisonment and criminal bankruptcy. Most English judges are fair, but some are notorious for their prejudice in favour of the prosecution. The jury system is essential to protect the public against oppressive judges, police officers or even governments. As that great judge Lord Devlin wrote: It is the lamp that shows that freedom lives. Robert Rhodes KC London WC2 Sir, I am sure that Lord Evans of Weardale is doing his very best within the confines of whatever guidelines and time he has been given to find a new Archbishop of Canterbury (news, Jul 5, and letter, Jul 7), but the committee he chairs seems to have arrived at a situation where they have decided not to decide what to decide until they have decided what to do. I had a discussion a month ago with a senior churchman and suggested that six months is a long time to leave the Church of England leaderless and rudderless, and we should copy the example of the Catholic Church, who found their new Pope in less than three weeks. The CofE should set up a conclave of bishops. The conduct of it should be the same, with the bishops out of contact with the outside world until they reach a decision. It was suggested that I should write to the King, as head of the Church, to make that proposal. I have not yet done that but I am sure that he reads The Times. Alastair Stewart Nunnington, N Yorks Sir, Why does the letter from former ambassadors ('Recognise Palestine', Jul 7) fail to mention Hamas, the October 7 attacks that started this latest conflict or the hostages that were kidnapped and are still being held, but instead heaps all the blame on Israel, when the biggest barrier to peace in the Middle East has always been the threats its enemies pose to Israel's security? I too want to see a Palestinian state and have campaigned for that for decades, but the 'unconditional' recognition the letter calls for would mean doing so before any negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on security, borders, Jerusalem or the status of settlements and would, of course, leave Hamas in place, something to which Israel can obviously not agree. Lord Austin of Dudley House of Lords Sir, It is telling that the letter signed by some two dozen former ambassadors does not include one who formerly served as an ambassador to Israel. They would understand the impractical and unhelpful nature of this suggestion and presumably refused to sign. Lord Leigh of Hurley House of Lords Sir, It is clear that, with the burgeoning numbers, there needs to be a redefinition of children's learning difficulties and disabilities ('PM facing fresh revolt over special needs help', news, Jul 7). We first need to recognise that most conditions are on a continuum; yet there is an increasing tendency to attribute a fixed label to those conditions, whatever the degree, and often after constant pressure from importunate parents. Moderate needs can and should be addressed within mainstream schools, with more specialist teachers and earlier intervention, as Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, states. Those on the severe end of the spectrum only should require a special school. The current route to this is through an EHCP (education, health and care plan). This is a lengthy and costly process for local authorities who, understandably, wish to avoid parents taking them to tribunals. Phillipson is looking into ways of reforming the unwieldy system of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support. We must hope that she will not be impeded by the Labour backbench brigade. Susan Bickley Ret'd teacher; Huntingdon, Cambs Sir, Before the EHCP was introduced in 2014, the school where I taught had a thriving special needs department with teaching assistants who could work with teachers on lesson material and assist a wide number of students with various needs. The department was decimated by the change in funding, leaving certain students with full-time help but all others with none. The year I retired, in 2019, the school even lost its nurture teacher due to a lack of funding. Meanwhile, the school was paying for a 'super head' and accountants at vast expense due to the switch to becoming an academy trust. Much needs reform, not only special needs help, but parents are not going to want to lose the support for their child. The government is in an impossible position until everyone accepts the reality of what we all face and that no system is ever perfect. Amanda Walker Ret'd teacher; Walkington, East Riding Sir, Your correspondents (letters, Jul 7) focused on the impact of AI on older children and young adults. As a preparatory school headmaster (now retired 12 years), I was often asked what was my school's academic focus in the primary years. I used to say with conviction that a core aim was to equip our pupils with the academic skills that would sustain them for life if they did not have access to computers and calculators 'if the lights went out': the four rules of number; times tables; percentages; a love of reading; accurate spelling; and cursive handwriting — the last enabling them to write from the heart a love letter or a letter of condolence. Nicholas Allen Chairman, Independent Association of Preparatory Schools, 2012-13; Ipswich Sir, Specialists value hospital resources (letter, Jul 7), but in the first instance the public crave prompt access to a medical opinion, with onward referral only if necessary. A 'neighbourhood health service' and enhanced technology (the NHS app and AI especially) could facilitate this and also free up hospitals to concentrate on delivering high-class tertiary care. Many community hospitals have closed and 'Darzi centres', modelled on Continental polyclinics, were never fully implemented. Let's give Wes Streeting the chance to restore quick, effective local primary healthcare. Tim Williams Ret'd consultant surgeon; Waldron, E Sussex Sir, Matthew Parris (comment, Jul 7) refers to economics as a dismal science. Dismal, yes. Science, no. The Rev Dr JE Roulston Bonnyrigg, Midlothian Sir, Further to your leading article on village cricket (Jul 7), judges have considered similar issues in the past and agreed with your views. Perhaps one of the most memorable is Lord Denning's dissent in Miller v Jackson (1977) where he found that it was not a nuisance that cricket balls were occasionally hit on to the property neighbouring the Lintz cricket club in Co Durham. He may have got some things (dreadfully) wrong in the past, but he got this right, saying 'in summertime, village cricket is the delight of everyone' and arguing that the cricketers of Lintz should continue to play. Quite apart from all the personal benefits of playing the sport, cricket is quintessentially British; it should be allowed to thrive. Anthony Philips London, W11 Sir, Those complaining about the possibility of cricket balls hitting them or their property might consider the example of Sir William Worsley, who captained Yorkshire County Cricket Club in the 1920s. He gave a monetary reward to any batsman who broke his library window in Hovingham Hall, thus encouraging local talent. Complainants might also consider who was there first. Ann Gray Beverley, East Riding Sir, As a parent whose eldest son went to Eton and youngest to Michaelhouse in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, I've attended my fair share of matches at both schools over the years ('Rugby parents told off for touchline opulence', world, Jul 7). While at Eton, the June 4 celebrations steadily evolved into picnics with unbelievable extravagance, more worthy of being at a grand opera, whereas picnics at Michaelhouse remained reassuringly rustic: a sausage out of a farmer's 4×4 possibly still sizzling from the veld. How things are changing! Louisa Woods Greens Norton, Northants Sir, My parents always claimed to have had three weddings ('To have and to hold two weddings', Jul 7). Living in Chile in the 1930s, the first was the civil wedding, the legal element; next came a church one, a few days before they sailed for Liverpool. While at sea, the captain performed their third. In the 1980s they celebrated their 50th anniversary — but only the once. Alison Rollin Ruislip, Middx Write to letters@
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Inside the personal life of Erin Patterson as her eye-watering wealth is revealed after the mother-of-two was found guilty of mushroom poisoning
Court testimony has revealed details about Erin Patterson 's personal life before she was found guilty of murdering her three in-laws with death cap mushrooms in a beef Wellington that she served at her home for lunch. Patterson's father-in-law and mother-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson died after the lunch at her Leongatha home, in south-east Victoria, on July 29, 2023. Following a 10-week trial and seven days of deliberation, Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, as Heather's husband, Pastor Ian Wilkinson, survived the deadly meal. Details of Patterson's personal life were aired in court during the trial, including the extent of her wealth, which included $2million from her paternal grandmother's estate. Patterson was raised in a brick home on a quiet street in Glen Waverley - a middle-class suburb in Melbourne 's south-east. Her mother, Heather Scutter, was a respected lecturer at Monash University and an expert in children's literature, and her father, Eitan Scutter, held director roles in multiple Australian companies. Those who knew Patterson from her younger days described her as being a smart and witty woman. However, in her childhood, Patterson told the court she developed an eating disorder and low self-esteem - a battle which remained with her into her adult life. In her mid-20s, Patterson left her science course and pursued a degree in accounting. In 2001, she also sat for an Air Services class photo - which included all the trainee air traffic controllers for that year. She became one of the few people to make it through the training program after successfully passing the notoriously difficult air traffic controller test. Former colleagues described Erin as a solitary, odd and strange young woman who was a bit of a loner and could be abrupt, abrasive and rude. She was also the only person in the 14-person air traffic controller training group who declined every invitation to social activities and events. Accounts from former air traffic controller colleagues painted a picture of Patterson as a crafty employee who would call in sick pretending to be other workers so that she could pick up lucrative shifts. Patterson was not an air traffic controller for long before she transitioned to working in animal management for the RSPCA at Monash City Council. It was here, in 2004, where she met her ex-husband Simon Patterson who was working at the council as a civil engineer. In his testimony to the court, Mr Patterson described his former wife as 'very intelligent', 'witty' and 'quiet funny'. He added the pair got to know each other as part of a 'fairly electric' group of friends before they developed a romantic relationship. 'I guess some of the things that attracted me to her in the first place was definitely her intelligence,' Mr Patterson testified. 'She is quite witty and can be quite funny.' Patterson was involved in a drunken crash, where she was almost three times over the legal limit, the same year she met her now-estranged husband. Court records revealed she had been driving an unregistered car and fled the scene of the crash. She was also caught driving 35km/h over the 60km/h speed limit. Patterson pleaded guilty to five charges. She was fined $1,000 and had her licence cancelled and was disqualified from driving in Victoria for two and a half years. In her testimony, she told the court she was a 'fundamental atheist' and initially tried to convert Mr Patterson, who was a devout Christian. 'Things happened in reverse and I became a Christian,' Patterson told the jury. She explained she experienced a 'spiritual experience' while on a camping trip when the pair attended a service at Korumburra Baptist church where Simon's uncle, Ian Wilkinson, was a pastor. 'I'd been approaching religion as an intellectual exercise up until that point,' Patterson said. 'But I had what I would call a religious experience there and it quite overwhelmed me.' In June 2007, the Pattersons were married. The wedding was held at Don and Gail's Korumburra home and Simon's cousin, David Wilkinson, walked Patterson down the aisle. Patterson told the court her parents did not attend the wedding as they were on holiday travelling across Russia on a train. In July 2006, her paternal grandmother Ora Scutter died, leaving her significant estate to her two sons and seven grandchildren. Mr Patterson told the court his ex-wife's share of the estate ended up being about $2million, which was paid out across eight years from 2007. Soon afterwards, the pair quit their council jobs and set off on a cross-country trip, travelling around Australia. When they reached Western Australia, the pair settled down and bought a house without a mortgage. In January 2009, they welcomed their first child, after what Patterson called the 'very traumatic' birth of her son. Her experience led to a mistrust of doctors, with Patterson telling the jury she would often question whether they knew what they were doing. On the stand, Patterson said Don and Gail stayed with them after the birth of her son and described Gail as being 'really supportive, and gentle and patient'. 'I remember being really relieved that Gail was there because I felt really out of my depth,' Patterson said. The pair did not stay in the rural community for long and just a few months later packed up their home and moved to Townsville. After months of travelling, Patterson said she had had enough and wanted to fly back to Perth while Mr Patterson and their son drove back to Western Australia. This led to the couple's first separation in late 2009, with Patterson and her son living in a rental while Mr Patterson lived in a caravan nearby for six months. The couple underwent marriage counselling before reuniting when Mr Patterson moved to the wheatbelt town of York where he worked for council as a civil engineer. For a time, the couple also lived in Quinninup, in Western Australia's southwest, where Patterson opened a second-hand bookstore in the small rural town of Pemberton. Mr Patterson told the court there were other brief periods of separation while they lived in Western Australia before they moved back to Victoria in 2013. In 2014, the pair welcomed their second child, a girl, and also bought a family home in Korumburra to be close to Mr Patterson's family. The couple separated for a final time in late 2015. When asked about the separation, Patterson told the jury she believed the key issue was communication. 'Primarily what we struggled with over the entire course of our relationship … we just couldn't communicate well when we disagreed about something,' Patterson said. 'We could never communicate in a way that made each of us feel heard or understood, so we would just feel hurt and not know how to resolve it.' The pair remained close and co-operative, with Patterson explaining she kept close to her father and mother-in-law and would attend family events. 'It never changed. I was just their daughter-in-law and they just continued to love me,' Patterson said. The court heard Patterson inherited a large amount of money after her mother passed away from cancer in 2019. Eight years earlier, Patterson's father had also died from cancer, which meant her grandmother's entire estate was left to her and her sister. Her parent's beachfront retirement home in Eden sold for $900,000, with part of the money used to buy a block of land at Gibson Street in Leongatha. Patterson built a family home on the block of land, the home which became the location of the deadly lunch. She registered the home, and also a property in Glen Waverley, as shared ownership with Mr Patterson. Mr Patterson told the jury he believed Patterson put his name on the titles because she was committed to their family and that she remained hopeful for a reconciliation. The court heard from three witnesses who became acquainted with Patterson in 2020 through an online true crime Facebook group. Patterson began socially chatting with others during the Covid pandemic and well into 2023. Non-profit manager Christine Hunt told the court Patterson was known as the group's 'super-sleuth', claiming she uncovered details of true crime cases they discussed. Daniela Barkley, a stay-at-home mum, described Patterson to the jury as a 'wonderful' mother but recalled she would often air issues about her husband and his family. In a series of messages sent to the group in 2022 between December 6 and 9, Patterson complained about her 'deadbeat' partner and his 'lost cause' family. 'I'm sick of this s*** I want nothing to do with them. I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing but it seems their concern about not wanting to feel uncomfortable and not wanting to get involved in their son's personal matters are overriding that so f*** em,' one message read. Mr Patterson claimed that while they remained friendly during separation, things changed in 2022 when his relationship status on his tax return was changed to single. He told the court the status change was the result of a mix-up with his accountant. 'She discovered that my tax return for the previous year for the first time noted we were separated,' Mr Patterson said. The Trial of Erin Patterson is available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Listen here Patterson told him the move would impact the family tax benefit the couple had previously enjoyed and she was obliged to now claim child support. 'She was upset about it,' he said. Patterson also wanted child support and the school fees paid. However, Mr Patterson said he was advised by authorities to stop paying for school fees and medical bills he had been previously covering. The move upset his increasingly estranged wife and the court heard Patterson had even changed the children's school without consulting their father. In the end, the jury had to weigh up all the evidence and sift through the testimony of those who took the stand. The mother-of-two sat defiantly throughout her 10-week trial, glaring at the media, members of the public and the family of the people she murdered. The unassuming Victorian woman drew international attention after three of her husband's family died following a lunch at her Leongatha home, in south-east Victoria, on July 29, 2023. Patterson pleaded not guilty to the murders of Don and Gail Patterson - her husband's parents - and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. Only Heather's husband, Pastor Ian Wilkinson, survived her plot - a blunder Patterson would live to regret, and will now serve time for after also being found guilty of attempting to murder him. Prosecutors argued Patterson had intentionally sourced the poisonous mushrooms with the intent to kill or seriously injure her four guests. Following seven days of deliberation, the jury returned to Latrobe Valley court on Monday and delivered a unanimous guilty verdict on all four charges. The estranged wife, devoted mother-of-two, multi-millionaire and generous in-law was deemed a callous killer. With three murder convictions and one attempted murder conviction, Patterson will be sentenced at a later date.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Incredible moment hero caretaker saves babies from burning tower - while balancing on narrow ledge
A hero caretaker helped save two babies from the sixth floor of a burning apartment block in Paris. Fousseynou Cissé, 39, said he 'didn't think twice' about the danger as he stood on a ledge outside the building's window to help those inside. Footage shows him standing next to the window filled with black smoke, signaling to those inside to pass their children to him. He first helps a five-month old baby and hands him the infant to a man in the the next building before doing the same with a one-year-old. The school caretaker also rescued two other children and two adults from the burning building in the north end of the city on Friday . Speaking to Le Parisien, a French newspaper, he said: 'Given the amount of smoke, they and their children could have suffocated. 'Their last hope was to throw themselves out the window otherwise... I didn't ask myself the question. Their lives were in danger. I didn't think twice.' He was lying on the sofa after returning home from work when he smelled the smoke from the nearby building and saw a desperate mother holding her baby out of a window. After telling his wife to evacuate with their two-year-old, he started to help his neighbours. 'I thought I was going to die with my children,' Naomi, one of the rescued mothers, said following the sire. It has been reported by local media that ten residents have been taken to hospital for smoke inhalation Rémi Féraud, a senator, wrote: 'Impressive courage that saved lives. Fousseynou Cissé is a hero who deserves our admiration and the recognition of Paris.' French MEP Matthieu Valet wrote: 'Facing death, armed only with his bravery, he saved Naomie, her two children, a neighbor's five-month-old baby, and her other one-and-a-half-year-old child.
