AT least ten people have been killed after a hotel at a Turkish ski resort went up in flames.

Terrified guests jumped from windows as the fierce blaze engulfed the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel in the middle of the night.

The fire is believed to have started in the restaurant before spreading quickly.

Shocking images show huge plumes of smoke coming from the hotel in front of a snow-capped mountain at the Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Center.

Part of the 161-room hotel backs onto a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames

Around 230 guests were forced to evacuate after the fire broke out at around 3.30am local time.

Emergency crews supported by helicopters were deployed to the scene.

Authorities have confirmed ten deaths, while a further 32 were injured.

Two people died after jumping from the hotel windows to escape, Bolu Governor Abdulaziz Aydın said.

Those evacuated were rehoused in nearby hotels.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said six prosecutors had been allocated to investigate the blaze.

The health, interior and culture ministers are expected to visit the site later in the day.

Aydın confirmed the fire started on the restaurant floor.

Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building.

He told NTV television that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel.

Kepcetutan told how the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape.

He added: “I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK.”

Local media suggested the wooden cladding on the exterior of the hotel, in a chalet-style design, may have accelerated the spread of the fire.