3 dead in rock spire collapse at tourist site in Turkiye's Cappadocia

A landslide triggered by heavy rainfall caused a rock spire to collapse in Turkiye’s Unesco World Heritage-listed Cappadocia region on Thursday, bringing the death toll to three, officials said. Turkiye’s Cappadocia region, a magnet for tourists from around the world, is home to cone-shaped rock formations known as “fairy chimneys”, created by ancient volcanic activity. “According to initial findings, two people were killed and five others injured in the incident,” Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X. Rescue teams pulled another body from the rubble, bringing the death toll to three, Nevsehir Governor Huseyin Kok said. The nationalities of the dead were not immediately known. “Search and rescue teams are continuing intensive, coordinated operations to locate any other victims who may be trapped under the debris,” the minister said.

Television footage showed heavy machinery digging through the rubble as rescue teams gathered at the site in an effort to recover people. Excavators and rescue workers worked into the night at the site, using powerful floodlights as the search operation continued. This handout photograph taken and released on October 29, 2026 by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows rescue teams searching for victims at the site of a rock formation that collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Cappadocia district of Nevsehir. — AFP The incident occurred at 3:15pm local time (5:15pm PKT) when a landslide triggered a rockfall in the town of Goreme near the open-air museum, local governor Kok said. The area was closed to the public following the collapse, according to reports. Eyewitnesses described hearing a loud noise as the rock spire near a car park collapsed, sending up a huge cloud of dust. Restoration Turkiye’s culture…