Turkey: 29 Dead, Several Injured After Fire Breaks Out At Istanbul's Nightclub

A fire at an Istanbul nightclub during renovations on Tuesday left 25 people dead and others badly hurt, officials and reports said. Several people have been detained for questioning. At least eight people were injured, seven of them hospitalised in serious condition, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The nightclub, which was closed for renovations, was on the ground floor of a 16-story residential building in the Besiktas district on the European side of the city bisected by the Bosphorus.

The fire was put out. Gov. Davut Gul told reporters at the scene that the cause of the fire was under investigation, and the victims were believed to be involved in the renovation work. Authorities detained five people for questioning, including managers of the club and one person in charge of the renovations, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said.

Praying for the souls of the deceased and speedy recovery of the injured, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu took it to X, formerly Twitter, "May God have mercy on our citizens who lost their lives, and I wish a speedy recovery to our injured."

The reports said authorities have detained 5 people including the manager of the nightclub and the person in charge of the renovation work for questioning and to discover the exact reason for the incident.

Videos of the incident are doing round the internet showing half a dozen fire engines trying to douse the flames and several medical and rescue teams trying to help the injured.