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.
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
