Defense from assistant chef in hotel fire trial: 'There was a fire extinguisher right in front of us'

The hearing, held in a hall specially set up at the Bolu Social Sciences High School sports complex by the Bolu 1st High Criminal Court, was attended by defendants in and out of custody, those injured in the fire, relatives of those who lost their lives, and the lawyers of the parties. Finally, the hotel's hot food chef Enver Öztürk, who is being tried without arrest, and the assistant chef in custody, Faysal Yaver, presented their defenses.

"NO FIRE TRAINING WAS PROVIDED"

Stating that he was asleep when the fire broke out, non-custodial defendant Enver Öztürk, who identified himself as the hot food chef at the Grand Kartal, said, "I am the chef who prepares the meals in the kitchen. The fire occurred during my sleeping hours. I left my room on the 4th floor, and when I went to the front of the hotel, the fire had grown very large. We went outside after taking 4 guests with us. Reşat Bölük is our head chef; I am the hot food chef. The sections in the kitchen are separate. There are electric heaters in the kitchen. I come in at 07:30 to cook; I am a chef in the inner kitchen. No fire training was provided, no drills were conducted. I never saw an occupational safety specialist," he stated.

"THE FIRE BROKE OUT AND I PANICKED"

Assistant chef Faysal Yaver, the defendant in custody who said he was asleep during the fire, stated, "I had been working as an assistant chef for a month. We were preparing for breakfast. The fire broke out, and I panicked all of a sudden. I called head chef Reşat to inform him. I started shouting that there was a fire. I went down to the garage area; the iron door was locked. I don't know how to open or close it; I tried to go back inside, but I couldn't. We tried to open the garage door but couldn't. The garage door opened, and we went outside. We waited there for 10 minutes, and with the guidance of my friends, we went to the customer entrance door. Most of the customers had already come down; they had closed the reception door. I tried to help people. I never had any contact with the grill plate. They took me in on the morning of the fire; I had been inside until then," he said.

"THERE WAS A FIRE EXTINGUISHER UNDER THE SINK BUT WE DIDN'T SEE IT"

Stating that there was a fire extinguisher right in front of their eyes but they could not see it, Yaver said, "I enter the kitchen at 23:00 at the latest, or 00:00, and work as a breakfast chef, but I am not in a chef position. Salih Acar was the breakfast chef. He quit his job two days before the fire due to an argument. They called me to the office and said, 'Please manage for us for a while.' Actually, there was a fire extinguisher right in front of us under the sink, but we didn't see it. I didn't see any other fire extinguisher in the kitchen. I work at night and work until 11-12 in the day; after that, I don't interact with anyone and I sleep. I know Enver Öztürk as the hot food chef. Reşat was our head chef. The grill plate is for those who use it to open and close. Whoever uses it opens it, and they close it. I do not accept the accusations against me," he stated.

The hearing was adjourned until 09:00 tomorrow morning.