The owner of the Grand Kartal hotel and 10 people have been sentenced to life in prison for negligence in the January 2025 fire, which resulted in 78 deaths.

A court in Turkey sentenced on Friday, October 31, the owner of the Grand Kartal hotel and 10 other people to life in prison for gross negligence related to a devastating fire in January 2025, which resulted in the deaths of 78 people, including 34 children. The fire broke out during the winter school vacation, and the victims were forced to jump from the windows or use bed sheets to escape from the hotel engulfed in flames. The court found that the defendants, including owner Halit Ergul and members of his family, acted with "probable intent to kill" through negligence. Deficient safety measures, such as the lack of sprinkler systems and functional alarms, contributed to the scale of the tragedy. The families of the victims organized protests to demand justice, and the defendants intend to appeal against the verdict.