A devastating landslide almost wiped out an entire family in Turkey, leaving a mother with injuries while claiming the lives of her two young children and the children’s father. The disaster struck the vicinity of Canik in Samsun, where the family had stopped at a car wash on Sunday, April 27.
Footage, published by KrudPlug, shows the boulders and debris crashing down a hillside and onto the car wash near a gas station in the Toptepe community. Seconds before the incident, the couple can be seen standing outside while their daughters, 7-year-old Alya and 5-year-old Acelya, were apparently inside the car.
It appears that their father, 36-year-old Adem Kaya, was washing the vehicle seconds before the disaster occurred around 11:20 p.m. Çiğdem Kaya, the children’s mother, is standing a few feet away. The force of the landslide buried the car wash along with the family and the car under soil and rocks.
According to a report, officials were alerted, and emergency teams rushed to the scene. Firefighters, medical personnel, and search-and-rescue units worked through the night, using heavy machinery to dig through the wreckage, per the report. At daybreak, drone footage revealed the scale of the devastation, earth ripped from the mountainside, scattering debris across the station’s grounds.
It is unclear how long the family was trapped beneath the soil. According to a report, Çiğdem Kaya was the first to be discovered by rescuers. The mother was found alive but injured. She was pulled from the rubble and taken to a nearby hospital, reportedly suffering a leg fracture. After rescuing the mother, officials continued to dig through the debris to uncover the body of the father.
When they reached the family’s car, which was crushed beneath the weight of the landslide, they found the lifeless bodies of their daughters, based on the details online. After all the bodies were removed, they were subsequently transported to the Samsun Forensic Medicine Institute for further examination.
