VIDEO: Turkey's new ski jump complex collapses in landslide

ANKARA

AA Photo

A flagship modern ski jump complex in Turkey has collapsed in a landslide just three years after it opened, local media reported on July 16.

The two ski jumps at Kiremitlik Hill in the eastern province of Erzurum were destroyed in the landslide on July 15, and surrounding areas damaged.

Officials from the regional sports directorate said the facility had been evacuated for safety reasons and the national team ski jump team had been barred from training there since the landslide began last weekend, the Milliyet newspaper reported.


      
Erol Mehmet Yarar, head of the Turkish Skiing Federation, said heavy rains that hit the region appear to have prompted the disaster, but added that the exact circumstances would be made clearer in an expert report.        

The facility is situated at the base of Palandöken Mountain, known as the best in Turkey for skilled skiers.

The complex, which cost almost 600 million Turkish Liras in taxpayers money, consists of two jumping towers and a number of smaller slopes for training purposes.

It was inaugurated in 2011 by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and hosted the Winter Universiade sports event that year.