Olympic skiers are mourning the loss of a young teammate.
Berkin Usta, who represented Turkey in alpine skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, and his father Yahya Usta died March 27 in a fire at a winter resort in Uludag, Turkey. Berkin was 24, while Yahya was 57.
“I learned with deep sorrow that our national athlete Berkin Usta and his father Yahya Usta lost their lives in the fire that broke out in the hotel,” Sports Minister Osman Askin Bak said in a statement on X March 27. “May God have mercy on our athletes and offer my condolences to their families, loved ones and the entire sports community. May their resting place be heaven.”
Turkey’s Olympic team later added in its own statement on X, “We wish God’s mercy to our national skier Berkin Usta and his father Yahya Usta, and offer our condolences to his family, loved ones and the sports community.”
The fire erupted at Kervansaray Hotel—a once popular ski resort just hours outside of Istanbul— around 5:30 a.m. local time. The local Bursa governor’s office told the Associated Press that the hotel was “empty of guests” but 12 staff members were present. The 30-year-old hotel had shut down in January when its accommodation permit was cancelled, the governor’s office told the Associated Press. (Authorities have not clarified whether the Usta family were employed by the hotel.)
Berkin, Yahya and his mother Fikriye—who, according to multiple outlets, survived—were staying on the fifth floor of the residence. The fire broke out in the cafeteria and took two hours for fire crews to control the flames. An investigation has been launched with the hotel’s manager detained, per Anadolu Agency.
In the 2022 Olympics, Berkin competed in the giant slalom event—a skiing course consisting of a zigzag layout with upright obstacles. He placed 43rd overall in the event, and continued to work on his craft in the years following. He often shared photos on his Instagram of himself hitting the slopes, with his most recent post last month showing him alongside his skiing teammates, which he aptly captioned, “#team.”
