Newlyweds woke up to ‘screams of terror’ in ‘traumatising’ honeymoon hotel fire

A couple have relived the moment they woke up to "screams of terror" after a fire broke out in the hotel on their dream honeymoon.

Erika and John Calvert, from Southport, had enjoyed a lovely two days at the Garden of Sun in Altinkum, Turkey, before disaster struck.

Erika, 38, said a fire broke out at about 5.15am on Wednesday but they only woke up at about 7am when they heard women screaming 'there's a fire, there's a fire, get out'.

She claims they were trapped in their smoky room for about an hour and a half with a wall of thick black smoke on the other side of the door.

According to Erika, there were no fire alarms or sprinklers – something the hotel has denied.

Erika says she had a panic attack and feared they wouldn't make it out.

But eventually a 'hero' guest came to help them and they decided they had no choice but to run through the smoke.

Erika has suffered smoke inhalation and has made four hospital trips since the incident.

John, 40, suffered an ankle injury through tripping during their escape from the hotel.

Erika, who'd booked their holiday through Teletext, told Mirror Online: "It was really frightening, we didn't think we would get out of there to be honest.

"We woke up to screams of terror, I will never forget it.

"I keep hearing those screams. I can't sleep, I'm shaking, it was horrendous.

"Staff had been evacuated and were downstairs.

"There were no fire alarms, no sprinklers."

She told how there were "women wrapping babies up in towels" to protect them from the smoke.

Erika claims there was smoke in their room which had entered through the door.

She said John opened the door but said 'we can't go that way, it's not an option' because there was thick black smoke on the outside.

"John started tying sheets together in case we had to climb down the balcony," Erika told.

"We were up there for an hour and a half before we decided to risk it and run through the smoke."

She said a Scottish man called Geo Semple saved their lives.

Erika said she'd been having a panic attack on the balcony and "no one was coming to get us – there was one fire engine on the other side of the hotel".

But Geo, who saw them from a nearby balcony where he'd been alerting others to the fire, came to the rescue.

"He came and got us from our room," she said.

"He was a hero, he saved quite a lot of people's lives.

"I collapsed on the way – I was inhaling the smoke – but Geo and my husband picked me up and got me out of there."

Erika says once they made it out they were given oxygen .

She was taken by a medical car to a clinic where she had nebulisers and was put on oxygen.

When she got back to the hotel about an hour later, she began vomiting 'black stuff' and was rushed to hospital by ambulance, she said.

There, she was put on a drip and given further oxygen.

Although Erika was advised to stay in hospital, she says she signed a form to allow her to fly back to the UK at her own risk, on the condition she would seek medical attention once she arrived.

Back in England by Wednesday night, she went to hospital where she says she was told the smoke inhalation would take about four weeks to clear completely.

John suffered torn ligaments in his right ankle from tripping over while they made their escape.

"I have been in hospital four times because of it – I've just been in again today.

"I have high levels of carbon monoxide and smoke inhalation.

"My voice has only just started to come back."

She said all their luggage has been ruined, although she says she isn't too worried about that.

Hotel manager Mustafa Caner previously denied that the fire alarms did not go off when responding to claims about the incident.

Mr Caner told the Liverpool Echo : "We had a small fire in the hotel sauna, but a little bit of smoke went upstairs. All guests have been evacuated by hotel staff.

"The fire alarm was properly working which we have on video and from the fire alarm aggregation company."

When previous claims made by guests were put to Mr Caner, he said: "If the alarms were not working, surely there would have been injuries?

"It was difficult with the plan when you have 200 people. The guests from the UK especially were difficult to manage. They are making panic for each other.

"After the fire they would not let me give an explanation."

Mirror Online has contacted both the hotel and Teletext holiday representatives for comment.

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