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.

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,

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.

Witnesses have described standing helplessly and paralyzed by the horror of people screaming for help or jumping out of windows as flames tore through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort

Tuesday's fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya left at least 79 people dead and 51 injured, happening during a particularly busy season.

Guests said no fire alarms could be heard and there was no sign of firefighters for a long period The fire that killed 78 people at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the early hours of Monday is one of the deadliest disasters of its kind in Turkish history.