Rock collapse near UNESCO-listed site in Turkey’s Cappadocia kills three

ANKARA — Three people, including two Turkish nationals and one French national, were killed and five others were injured on Thursday when rocks broke off a volcanic rock formation in Turkey’s popular tourism destination of Cappadocia, which is known for its cave dwellings.

Emergency and rescue teams were dispatched to the site, which is just outside the Goreme Open Air Museum in Turkey’s central Anatolian province of Nevsehir. 

Nevsehir Gov. Huseyin Kok said heavy rain triggered a landslide that caused rocks to break off a volcanic formation known as a “fairy chimney” and fall onto people below.

Turkish Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu later Thursday confirmed that three people had died. Four of the five injured people were discharged from the hospital.

Turkey’s private Demiroren News Agency identified those killed as Turkish couple Fatih Eray Tuna and Begum Cetinkaya Tuna, and French national Cynthia Francine.

Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said everyone at the site had been accounted for and search and rescue operations had concluded.

An investigation has been launched into the incident, according to Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek.

Cappadocia’s fairy chimneys are tall rock formations shaped by the gradual erosion of volcanic material. 

Goreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia, located within the region, were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1985. The Goreme Open Air Museum, where the collapse took place, is a complex of churches, chapels and monasteries carved into the rock.