Deep sorrow’: Olympic skier Berkin Usta and his father die in ski resort fire

A fire at a closed ski resort hotel in northwest Turkey killed an Olympic skier and his father, two months after a blaze at another Turkish winter resort left 79 dead.

The victims were named as Yahya Usta, president of the Turkish Ski and Snowboard Teachers Association, and his 25-year-old son Berkin Usta, a skier who represented Turkey at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

“I learned with deep sorrow that our national athlete Berkin Usta and his father Yahya Usta lost their lives in the fire that broke out in the hotel,” Sports Minister Osman Askin Bak said.

The Kervansaray Hotel in Uludag, Bursa province, was empty of guests when the fire started at 5:30 a.m. but 12 staff were present, Bursa governor’s office said. Several people suffering smoke inhalation were hospitalised.

Yahya Usta, his son and wife, who survived, were staying on the hotel’s fifth floor. Authorities haven’t said why they were staying at the hotel or if any of them were members of staff.

Bursa Mayor Mustafa Bozbey said that the blaze began in the cafeteria. Prosecutors have launched an investigation. The state-run Anadolu Agency later reported that the hotel manager had been detained.

The 30-year-old hotel was shut down in early January when its accommodation permit was cancelled, the governor’s office said.

Television images showed flames quickly engulfing the six-story hotel, located on the slopes of one of Turkey’s most popular ski destinations, less than a three-hour drive from Istanbul.