ANKARA - 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.

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.

Allegations of negligence as 79 people died in blaze at Grand Kartal Hotel on a mountaintop in the Kartalkaya resort

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.

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.

Anger was growing in Turkey on Wednesday as allegations piled up that negligence played a role in the deaths of 79 people who perished when a huge fire swept through

Family and friends bid a tearful farewell to Ferda Apak and her daughter, Vedia Nil Apak, at an emotional funeral held Thursday in Istanbul. Both lost their lives in the tragic fire that swept through a hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort in the northwest of the country on1.

The United Arab Emirates has conveyed its sincere condolences and expressed solidarity with the Republic of Turkey over the victims of a fire in a hotel in Bolu Province, which resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries.