Turkey has detained nine people, including the owner of the hotel, in connection with a deadly fire that claimed the lives of 76 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in western Turkey, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said early Wednesday.

At least 66 people were killed and 51 injured as a fire ripped through a ski resort hotel in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, according to the country’s interior ministry.

Nine people, including the hotel’s owner, have been arrested in connection with the blaze. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM Party said it will send a delegation to meet Abdullah Ocalan, head of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in jail on Wednesday for a second time as part of a political effort to end a decades-long conflict.

Officials in Turkey say that a fire has raged through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in the northwestern part of the country during a school holiday, killing at least 76 people.

Turkish authorities have ramped up investigations and detentions of opposition figures, with three such actions on Monday alone, raising concerns about a widening crackdown on dissent against the government.

No country has as much to gain from a stable Syria as Turkey, and few have as much to lose if it implodes. Turkey is home to more than 3m Syrian refugees, and wants Syria to be safe enough for many to return.

As it became increasingly clear that Syrians were not imminently leaving Turkey, the Turkish government formalized the Temporary Protection Regulation in 2014. It allowed Syrian nationals access to the Turkish education and health care systems and laid the groundwork for them to pursue employment if they could secure work permits.

At least 51 people were injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, some 185 miles east of Istanbul, said interior minister Ali Yerlikaya. At least two deaths are thought to be people attempting to jump to safety.

Turkey was preparing to bury its dead Wednesday a day after a huge fire killed 76 people at a ski resort hotel, as questions grew over safety measures at the luxury establishment. As the nation observed a day of mourning,

Turkey hotel fire latest: 10-year-old among 76 killed in ski resort blaze that saw guests jump from windows - Cause of fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya under investigation after dozens die