AA photo.
Experts called for temporary visitor closures after heavy rain in Türkiye’s central Cappadocia region, where a fairy chimney collapsed near Göreme Open Air Museum in Nevşehir on Oct. 29, killing three people and injuring five.
Istanbul Technical University’s Geological Engineering Department Head Şenel Özdamar said access should be suspended until conditions stabilize. Whether human intervention contributed was unknown; natural erosion continues to shape the formations, he said.
Mining technology and earth sciences expert Serkan İçelli said he had filmed a warning there two months earlier and identified similar hazards. Cavities carved as dwellings should be individually assessed and restored in keeping with nature, he said.
Governor Hüseyin Kök attributed the collapse near the museum entrance parking lot to a rain-induced landslide. Only the immediate area was cordoned off; no problems were reported with other formations.
Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE) and health and rescue crews searched the debris as officials established a crisis desk. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said a deputy chief prosecutor and two prosecutors were assigned to investigate. The injured were in good condition in hospitals, Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu said.
The dead were journalist Fatih Eray Tuna and his wife Begüm Çetinkaya Tuna, both 31, who married in July, and French tourist Cynthia Francine Marie Madeleine Houpert, 37. Tuna worked in northwestern Sakarya.
Cappadocia Area Head Cem Aslanbay previously identified old carved spaces at the base of a collapsed formation. The authority inspects risky formations and carries out reinforcement and restoration where needed; regular assessments, barriers and compliance with warnings help protect visitors.
Volcanic ash from Erciyes, Hasandağı and Göllüdağ hardened into tuff millions of years ago. Wind and water eroded the soft rock beneath harder caps into fairy chimneys. Loss of a cap or weakening of the body can accelerate erosion. Rain, snow and temperature changes weaken them, while water freezing in cracks expands and breaks rock apart.
Nonfatal collapses occurred in Uçhisar’s Tekeli neighborhood in December 2024, after snowmelt and Göreme’s Gaferli neighborhood in September 2025. Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia have been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1985.
