The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Turkish hotel blaze ‘like something out of a film’
Fife friends speak of dramatic scenes following a fire at holiday hotel
A pair of Fife friends have spoken of their holiday from hell amid the chaos that followed a fire at their hotel in Turkey.
Karyn Brown, 46, and Elizabeth Stephen, 43, both from Cupar, fear they could have been killed had they not been awoken by a commotion outside their room at the Pineta Deluxe Hotel in Marmaris in the early hours of Monday.
Dozens of people were evacuated after the blaze started on the fifth floor, but that sparked incredible scenes as holidaymakers clashed with resort staff in the resulting melee.
Speaking from Turkey, they said they had been woken up by banging and shouting at around 12.50am and were confronted with a smoke-filled hall when they opened the door.
“We have never seen anything like this ever,” Karyn said.
“We ran down the stairs hitting fire alarms but nothing was working. A young lad pulled a fire extinguisher off the wall but it was broken.
“Everybody was in panic and as the stairs filled with smoke we headed down. But there were still no alarms or sprinklers and people were using the lifts in panic.
“We got outside and it was chaos: children crying and being sick, frantic parents that could not find their kids.
“A woman was screaming that a child was sleeping upstairs but a member of staff ran in and was carried out in front of us 10 minutes later, unconscious. I was in complete shock.”
Elizabeth said a fire chief told people the blaze had been caused by a cigarette which had fallen into a laundry hamper, but said no further guidance was given.
“Staff became aggressive when people started to question if it was safe as no alarms or sprinklers had worked, and why fire exits were padlocked. “It was like something out of a film. “People were shouting from windows above us not knowing a fire had happened as no alarms had gone off.”
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was aware of the incident.