Desperate guests at a Turkish ski resort that exploded into flames tried to escape using bedsheets as ropes hanging from the windows, while others died after trying to jump to safety.

Turkey has detained nine people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 76 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the Bolu mountains, authorities said.

ANKARA — As the death toll from an overnight fire at a popular ski resort in northwest Turkey rises to 76, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that the country will observe a day of national mourning on Wednesday.

A fire raged through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey early Tuesday during a school holiday, killing at least 76 people — at least two of them when they jumped from the building to escape the flames,

Dozens of people were killed after a fire ripped through a ski resort hotel in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, forcing desperate holidaymakers to leap from windows to escape from the flames and smoke.

The fire, which broke out early on Tuesday, trapped many of the registered 238 guests inside, leaving 78 people dead and dozens of others injured.

In a hotel fire in Turkey, 79 people died. The fire reportedly started in the hotel's restaurant kitchen. According to Turkish media, many people were poisoned with carbon monoxide while trying to escape through emergency stairways.