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Cappadocia: Three Dead After Fairy Chimney Collapses Near Göreme, Turkey
A landslide after heavy rain brought down a fairy chimney near the Göreme Open Air Museum in Turkey's Cappadocia region. Three people died, five were injured, and prosecutors have opened an investigation.
By Marcel
Three people died on Thursday, October 29, when a fairy chimney collapsed near Göreme in Cappadocia, a major tourist region in central Turkey. Five others were injured, according to Hüseyin Kök, governor of Nevşehir Province.
Kök said two of the dead were Turkish citizens and the third victim was a foreigner. According to the news agency İHA, the two Turkish victims were a married couple from Sakarya.
The injured are five tourists, Governor Kök said. Four of them have already left the hospital, while one is still being treated. Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu said the injured were generally doing well.
Landslide after heavy rain
According to the governor, excessive rain triggered a landslide at 3:15 p.m. local time, which brought down the rock spire. Kök described it as a "natural disaster." The accident happened near the Göreme Open Air Museum.
Witnesses reported a loud noise as the rock fell. The site was near a parking lot, and a huge cloud of dust then rose into the sky.
Area closed, prosecutors investigate
Police, gendarmerie, the disaster management agency AFAD and rescue crews were at the scene. Television footage showed heavy equipment clearing the boulders, and after dark the rescuers continued working under floodlights. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi later said the search and rescue operation had been completed. The area was closed to the public.
The Nevşehir public prosecutor's office opened an investigation. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that a deputy chief prosecutor and two prosecutors would lead the inquiry.
Repeated collapses in the region
Cappadocia is a UNESCO World Heritage site, known for its towering, cone-shaped rocks called fairy chimneys. They are made of soft volcanic rock that wind and water have worn away over a long time.
Rocks collapse in the region time and again. A fairy chimney also fell there in 2024, and nobody was injured.
Turkey's Culture Ministry has therefore taken measures to protect the rock formations from climate-related damage and erosion.
