A pair of Fife friends have spoken of their holiday from hell amid the chaos that followed a fire at their hotel in Turkey.
Karyn Brown, 46, and Elizabeth Stephen, 43, both from Cupar, fear they could have been killed had they not been awoken by a commotion outside their room on the fourth floor of the Pineta Deluxe Hotel in Marmaris in the early hours of Monday.
Dozens of people were evacuated after the blaze started on the fifth floor, but that sparked incredible scenes as holidaymakers clashed with resort staff in the resulting melee.
Speaking from Turkey, the pair said they had been woken up by banging and shouting at around 12.50am and were confronted with a smoke-filled hall when they opened the door.
“We have never seen anything like this ever,” Karyn said.
“We are in no doubt that had that fire broken out a few hours later we and many other holiday makers would have perished on the top floors as no fire equipment nor alarms or sprinklers worked.
“Elizabeth shouted that there was a fire and we needed to get out so we grabbed the passports and ran out in our jammies.
“We ran down the stairs hitting fire alarms but nothing was working. A young lad pulled a fire extinguisher off the wall but it was broken.
“Everybody was in panic and as the stairs filled with smoke we headed down. But there were still no alarms or sprinklers and people were using the lifts in panic.
“We got outside and it was chaos: children crying and being sick, frantic parents that could not find their kids in the panic.
“A woman was screaming that a child was sleeping upstairs but a member of staff ran in and was carried out in front of us 10 minutes later, unconscious. I was in complete shock.”
Elizabeth said a fire chief told people the blaze had been caused by a cigarette which had fallen into a laundry hamper, but said no further guidance was given.
“Members of staff appeared and told people there was no danger and to go back to their rooms, but this was ludicrous as we were on the fourth floor below the fire,” she noted.
“Staff became aggressive when people started to question if it was safe as no alarms or sprinklers had worked, and why the fire exits and gates were padlocked shut as people became trapped when trying to leave.
“One man told a woman who was upset: ‘Shut up with your crying, nobody died’.
“It was like something out a film.
“People were shouting from windows above us not knowing a fire had happened as no alarms had gone off. We were also told next day a lot of residents didn’t answer the door to the knocking as they thought it was fighting or kids knocking on doors and running away.
“We were seeing to kids outside when a woman started screaming from inside and it then became apparent that a fight had broken out between staff and holiday makers as a woman with an oxygen mask on had been assaulted.
“This escalated and the police along with the British Embassy were called by holidaymakers. People were ordered to go back to their rooms or they would be removed from the hotel.
“One staff member grabbed a man’s iPad and took it as he was recording what was going on.
“In amidst this chaos a minibus arrived with new holiday makers and another member of staff shouted to them: ‘Do you need booked in?’
“You could see they were stunned at what was unfolding in front of them and we were in sheer disbelief.”
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was aware of the incident.
