Istanbul nightclub fire kills at least 29, several detained for questioning
- The blaze broke out during construction work in the basement of a 16-storey building in the Besiktas area of Turkey’s economic capital
- Newly-re-elected mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who rushed to the scene, said that the basement had housed a nightclub
A fire killed at least 29 people in a 16-storey residential building in Istanbul on Tuesday, the governor of Turkey’s economic capital said.
“The number of people who lost their lives in the fire … in Gayrettepe of Besiktas district has increased to 29,” governor Davut Gul’s office said in a statement, referring to the Istanbul neighbourhood.
At least one person was being treated in a hospital, the governor’s office said in a statement.
The fire began at 12:47, the office said, and was only brought under control by firefighters hours later.
The Masquerade nightclub, which was closed for renovations, was on the ground and basement floors of the building in the Besiktas district on the European side of the city bisected by the Bosphorus.
Television images showed flames and a column of thick smoke rushing from upper-storey windows.