Two people were killed and one was injured on Thursday afternoon when a fairy chimney collapsed at the entrance to the Göreme Open Air Museum in Cappadocia, central Türkiye, according to Anadolu Agency (AA) and other Turkish media.
Fairy chimneys (peribacası in Turkish) are the tall rock pillars of soft volcanic stone of Cappadocia, in Nevşehir province.
Update, 16:59: Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said on social media that the Nevşehir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had opened an investigation into the collapse and assigned a deputy chief prosecutor and two prosecutors, ANKA News Agency and Son Dakika reported. Son Dakika said AFAD, UMKE, gendarmerie, police and search-and-rescue teams were at the scene and that a crisis desk was set up under the Nevşehir Governorship; Governor Hüseyin Kök said two bodies had been reached and search and rescue work was continuing. ANKA cited preliminary information of two dead and five injured, while Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported two dead and one injured. DHA said at 17:09 that teams were still working at the scene, periodically calling for silence to listen for anyone who might be trapped under the debris. None of the reports gave the victims’ nationalities or said whether the Göreme Open Air Museum had been closed. (Sources: ANKA via Son Dakika, Son Dakika, DHA via Son Dakika.)
Update, 18:10: The death toll has risen to three after another body was recovered from the debris, Nevşehir Governor Hüseyin Kök said, according to Son Dakika; NTV and Hürriyet also reported three dead and five injured. Demirören News Agency (DHA) said at 18:06 that the number of injured had risen to five and that they were being treated in hospitals in the city, while teams stepped up safety measures and continued seismic and acoustic listening work in the debris. Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu said the general condition of the five injured was good and their treatment was continuing, Son Dakika and Hürriyet reported. NTV said the open car park near the collapse, where around 150 vehicles had been parked, was evacuated and people were moved away from the area because of the risk of further collapse. The governor attributed the collapse to a soil slide caused by heavy rain. None of the reports gave the victims’ nationalities or said whether the Göreme Open Air Museum had been closed. (Sources: Son Dakika, NTV, DHA via Son Dakika.)
Rocks fell during heavy rain
AA reported that pieces of rock broke off the fairy chimney during heavy rain and fell onto an area where people were. Police, gendarmerie, disaster agency AFAD and health teams were sent to the scene after the report was received.
Inspection teams found that two people had died after being trapped under the rock fragments, CNN Türk reported. The injured person was taken to hospital in the city, according to AA and CNN Türk. Neither outlet gave the identities or nationalities of the victims.
Nevşehir Governor Hüseyin Kök said the collapse happened at 15:15 and was caused by a landslide resulting from excessive rain, Son Dakika reported. İhlas News Agency (İHA) said the governor visited the area to receive information, that the national medical rescue team UMKE was among the responders, and that a crisis desk had been set up at the scene.
Cause under investigation
CNN Türk said security measures in the area had been increased, and that the cause of the collapse and the extent of the damage were still being assessed, with technical reports expected from the relevant institutions. Work at the scene was continuing, AA reported.
According to Son Dakika, a fairy chimney in the area also collapsed at night in 2024 after snowfall, without casualties, and a partial collapse in 2025 led the gendarmerie to take safety measures.
Sources
- Göreme’de peribacasından kopan kayaların altında kalan 2 kişi öldü, 1 kişi yaralandı (AA via Son Dakika)
- Nevşehir Göreme’de peribacası yıkıldı, 3 kişi yaralandı (İHA via Son Dakika)
- Kapadokya peribacası çöktü (CNN Türk)
- Kapadokya’da peribacası çöktü: 2 ölü, 1 yaralı (Son Dakika)
Photo: Bernard Gagnon / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
