Aug 15: 1,431 fresh COVID-19 infections and 21 fatalities in Karnataka
Dakshina Kannada logs 311 positive Covid-19 cases, 4 deaths
Bengaluru, Aug 15: Karnataka registered 1,431 fresh coronavirus cases taking its overall tally to 29,29,464 while 21 deaths took the toll to 36,979, the health department said on Sunday.
Also, Karnataka completed 4 crore COVID tests in the state on Sunday since the outbreak of the pandemic.
There were 22,497 active cases in the state while the recovery of 1,611 patients took the total recovery to 28,69,962.
Dakshina Kannada district, which borders Kerala, remained the number one COVID-19 hotspot. The district reported 311 infections and four fatalities, the highest among all the districts on Sunday.
Bengaluru urban district was the second major COVID hotspot with 305 fresh infections and three deaths.
The Karnataka capital has so far reported 12,32,902 infections and 15,937 deaths. There were 8,166 active cases.
Other districts too reported COVID-19 cases including 177 Udupi, 87 in Hassan, 83 in Mysuru, 82 in Kodagu, 64 in Uttara Kannada and 51 in Tumakuru.
According to the media bulletin, there were fatalities in 11 districts including Bengaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Kolar, Mandya and Mysuru.
Yadgir district recorded zero infections and zero fatalities. There were zero fatalities in 20 districts in Karnataka.
The department said in its bulletin that 1,52,767 COVID tests were conducted on Sunday including 1,23,150 RT-PCR tests and other methods.
With this, Karnataka has so far performed 4.09 crore COVID-19 tests in the state, it said.
There were 1,12,199 inoculations done on Sunday taking the total vaccination to 3.46 crore.
The positivity rate for the day was 0.93 per cent and case fatality rate was 1.46 per cent, the department added.
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At least 66 dead, 51 injured in hotel fire at ski resort in northwestern Turkey
Ankara, Jan 21 (AP): A fire at a hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday killed at least 66 people, Turkey's Interior Minister said.
Ali Yerlikaya said at least 51 other people were injured in the disaster.
“We are in deep pain. We have unfortunately lost 66 lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel,” Yerlikaya told reporters after inspecting the site.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of the injured was in serious condition.
The fire broke out at around 3:30 am in the restaurant of the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, officials and reports said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Two of the victims died after jumping from the building in a panic, Gov Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency. Private NTV television said some people tried to climb down from their rooms using sheets and blankets.
There were 234 guests staying at the hotel, Aydin said.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building. He told NTV television that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel.
He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape.
“I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK,” the ski instructor told the station.
Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.
Witnesses and reports said the hotel's fire detection system failed to operate.
“My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off,” Atakan Yelkovan, a guest staying on the third floor of the hotel, told the IHA news agency.
“We tried to go upstairs but couldn't, there were flames. We went downstairs and came here (outside),” he said.
Yelkovan said it took about an hour for the firefighting teams to arrive.
“People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets ... some tried to jump,” he said.
The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the fire. NTV television suggested that the wooden cladding on the exterior of the hotel, in a chalet-style design, may have accelerated the spread of the fire.
The 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames, the station also reported.
NTV showed a smoke-blackened lobby, its glass entrance and windows smashed, its wooden reception desk charred and a chandelier crashed to the ground.
Kartalkaya is a popular ski resort in the Koroglu mountains, some 300 km east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during the school semester break when hotels in the region are packed.
Aydin's office said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the site.
Other hotels at the resort were evacuated as a precaution and guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.
Meanwhile, a gas explosion at a hotel at another ski resort in central Turkey injured four people.
The explosion took place at the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Centre in Sivas province. Two skiers and their instructor were slightly injured while another instructor received second-degree burns on the hands and face, the Sivas governor's office said.
A massive fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, a ski resort in northwestern Turkey, killed at least 10 people and injured 32. The fire started early Tuesday in the hotel’s restaurant. Two victims died after jumping from the building. The hotel had 234 guests at the time. pic.twitter.com/3CQEkkBeLd
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) January 21, 2025
