25.08.2026 17:01
The mother of 14-year-old Taha Emir Kayaalp, who lost his life when the raft capsized during a rafting tour he attended with his family in Muğla Dalaman, Çiğdem Katalıoğlu, described the horrifying moments. The grieving mother, stating that her son reached out his hand to her in his final moments and they made eye contact, recounted that as the current came between them, her child was swept away and trapped among the rocks. The family, reacting to the negligence in security and rescue efforts, has filed complaints against those responsible.
Çiğdem Katalıoğlu, the mother of 14-year-old Taha Emir Kayaalp, who lost his life when a boat capsized during a rafting tour she attended with her family in Muğla's Dalaman district, described the moments of the disaster and the scandals that followed. The grieving mother stated that no safety training was provided and that the equipment was old and insufficient; she reacted strongly to the refund they received after her son's death, with the explanation "The service was not completed."
The Katalıoğlu family, who went to Fethiye for a holiday from Gebze, made an agreement with a rafting company at the direction of the hotel where they were staying, upon the request of their 14-year-old son Taha Emir. On August 19, the family was taken to the riverside in Gürleyik village in Dalaman, and according to allegations, they were put on the boat without any safety training and with worn-out equipment. At the very beginning of the tour, the boat capsized, and Taha Emir Kayaalp got stuck in the rocks. He was removed from the water and taken to the hospital, but could not be saved. The young boy's funeral was held in Kocaeli Gebze on August 21, and one instructor was arrested in connection with the incident.
"THEY RUSHED INTO A MONEY HASSLE, THEY DIDN'T GIVE TRAINING" Describing the day of the incident and the moments just before the tour, mother Çiğdem Katalıoğlu stated that when she asked about the age limit while talking to the company, she was told "It's free for ages 8 and up," and said: "After we went to the village, they offered us breakfast. After that, they were supposed to give us training very quickly, in a hurry. Because we had done rafting with my son before on the Melen River in Düzce and were experienced in this regard, they didn't give any training. The life jackets were so old, so worn out that even the life jacket they put on my child was slipping off his shoulder. The helmet wasn't sitting properly on his head. Then they immediately rushed into a money hassle. They said, 'Send my money right away.' I said, 'Okay, I'll send it, we're here, we're not running away.' Anyway, I sent the money right away. They brought a piece of paper with everyone's first and last names written on it. It wasn't an official document; we signed it there."
"THE STAFF ONLY CARED ABOUT GETTING EVERYONE EXCITED" Katalıoğlu, who stated that they were taken down to the riverside via steep and dangerous paths and that the area looked risky, described the moment of the tour with these words: "There were 6 boats; since we were at the front, they took us on the first boat. I was sitting at the tip, my husband opposite me, and my son behind my husband. Behind me was a German family with two children younger than my son. This company preferred to give the training they should have given up above, inside the boat. The commands were not explained to us; they only cared about getting everyone excited. There was no professionalism at all."
"MY SON REACHED OUT HIS HAND TO ME, THE WATER SEPARATED US" The grieving mother, who stated that the boat capsized at the very beginning of the tour near a dangerous rock, recounted the horrifying moments as follows: "I flipped over and got caught in the current. I could see my son on that dangerous rock. My son is reaching out his hand to me, and I catch his hand there. Then we make eye contact. Then a wave of water comes, pulls me under. I am separated from my son at that point. When the water pulled me under, I have never seen anything like that in my life. It spun me around and around under the water like the spin cycle of a washing machine, slamming me into rocks at that speed. I gave up at that point. I said, 'If I'm like this under the water, my child must be dead.' I swallowed the last bit of water and gave myself up."
"WHEN THEY TOOK OFF THE LIFE JACKET, MY SON WAS FLUNG INTO THE WATER" Stating that she looked for her son after being rescued from under the water, Katalıoğlu expressed the negligence during the rescue efforts with these sentences: "I saw my son's foot was stuck in that dangerous rock, and they couldn't get it out. My child's life jacket had ridden up and was like that. I was shouting, 'Lift his head up,' thinking maybe he wouldn't swallow more water. They didn't lift his head, and on top of that, they started shouting 'Help!' themselves. Then an instructor came from below; he was someone who really knew the job. He throws the rope, and they can't catch it. The instructor shouted from there, 'Take off the child's life jacket.' After they took off my child's life jacket, my son was flung into the water. If they had taken off that jacket from the beginning, my child's foot would have been freed, and he would have been swept into the water."
"HE WAS INTERVENED FOR 1.5 HOURS, HIS PULSE WAS LOST IN THE AMBULANCE" The mother, who said that a forensic doctor present on the tour and a tourist with first aid training intervened with Taha Emir after he was removed from the water, said, "They worked on my child with all their might for 1.5 hours. His lips were purple; there was no response. Suddenly, blood came to his lips; he started to bring up water, and blood came from his nose. According to what they said, these were good signs. One and a half hours later, the ambulance arrived. While trying to carry my son up from the rocks on a stretcher, my son's pulse probably went away there. The people in the ambulance said, 'We are continuing the intervention.'"
"MY SON WAS DEAD, AND THEY WEREN'T TELLING ME" Katalıoğlu, who stated that a person trying to support her at the hospital kept giving her hope, but she later learned this person was the village headman, reacted to the refund scandal after the tragic news with these words: "He says, 'Your son will live.' My son was dead inside, and he wasn't telling me. I said, 'Who are you?' He said, 'I am the village headman.' I said, 'Ah, you're one of them; I understand why you're here.' Then I received the news of my son's death. While all this was happening, they were offering money to my husband; they wanted to give back the amount we paid. They sent the money back to me, and I called this person. I said, 'How can you send this money to me, my child is gone.' That person said, 'We sent it to you by mistake.' Then I called the headman. The headman said, 'Since there was no service, the service fee... Since the service couldn't continue, that's why we sent the money back.' I am filing complaints against all of them, against all those responsible. I will pursue this case to the end. My only concern is getting that place shut down. That place takes lives. My son is gone."