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.

Dozens of people were killed after a fire ripped through a ski resort hotel in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, forcing desperate holidaymakers to leap from windows to escape from the flames and smoke.

The 12-story Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province was completely destroyed by a massive fire overnight, with 234 guests staying there at the time of the fire