Olympic skier Berkin Usta and father killed in fire at closed Turkish ski resort
Olympic alpine skier Berkin Usta, 25, was tragically killed alongside his father in a fire that consumed a closed ski resort in the northwest region of Turkey early Thursday morning.
Usta, who represented Turkey at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, was staying at the Kervansaray Hotel in Uludag, around three hours south of Istanbul, with his family when the blaze first started at around 5:30 a.m.
The Bursa governor's office said that 12 staff members were present at the time of the fire, and several people were hospitalized with smoke inhalation.
Usta and his father, Yahya Usta – president of the Turkish Ski and Snowboard Teachers Association – were killed in the blaze. Yahya Usta's wife is believed to have survived the fire.
"We have learned with deep sorrow that our national skier Berkin Usta, who represented our country at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and the Erzurum 2017 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, and his father, former national skier Yahya Usta, passed away due to a hotel fire in Uludağ, Bursa," Team Turkey said in post on X.
"We wish God's mercy to our national skier Berkin Usta and his father Yahya Usta, and offer our condolences to his family, loved ones and the sports community."
IOC President Thomas Bach also released a statement following the tragic news.
"We have learned about the tragic death of Turkish Olympic skier Berkin Usta, and his father, in a terrible fire. Berkin lived his Olympic dream by competing at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in Alpine skiing. Our thoughts are with their family and friends."
Local officials believe the fire began in the hotel cafeteria. The family was staying on the fifth floor of the hotel, despite its doors being permanently shut in early January after its accommodation permit was canceled. It was not immediately clear why they were at the hotel.
The fire at the six-story, 30-year-old hotel was put out within two hours, but not before the blaze had consumed much of the upper floors.
Thursday's deadly fire comes just months after another popular ski resort in the region caught fire, killing 79 people in January.
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