![Fire tears through nightclub and apartment building in Istanbul, killing at least 29 people: "I've lost four friends"](https://assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/04/02/98b08db3-2541-4d02-8c17-9128e37ddd2b/thumbnail/1200x630/cd72394fbb877f50e857503963bb8a43/gettyimages-2133308870.jpg?v=28e996fb04f1867b9e0abe6d7ce5112f)
Fire tears through nightclub and apartment building in Istanbul, killing at least 29 people: "I've lost four friends"
CBSN
A fire that raged from the basement of a 16-story building in central Istanbul killed at least 29 people Tuesday, with flames and thick smoke billowing for hours despite a massive emergency response. Rescue efforts had ended by early evening, the city governor's office said, and eight people were arrested over the blaze that began in a basement where builders had been renovating a nightclub.
The fire in the Gayreteppe neighborhood of the city's Besiktas district began at 12:47 local time and was put out by late afternoon, the office of regional governor Davut Gul said.
An AFP reporter saw three exhausted firefighters sat on the ground with smoke-blackened faces and equipment as they recovered from the effort.
![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20240722123731.jpg)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left Monday for a scheduled visit to Washington, one day after President Biden announced he would not be running for a second term and amid Israel's ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Ahead of his departure, Netanyahu said Israel will remain a key ally of the U.S. in the Middle East no matter who becomes the next president.