Christian Atsu, a former forward for Newcastle United and Chelsea, was discovered dead after going missing for several days following the Turkish earthquakes.
One of the top players from the Chelsea academy before moving to Turkey was the Ghanaian footballer who played for Hatayspor until his untimely demise.
The 31-year-old was residing in a Hatay city apartment that sustained significant damage as a result of the earthquake.
His club Hatayspor initially reported he was rescued “with injuries” but a day later that position changed.
The news of his death was confirmed by his agent in Turkey, Murat Uzunmehmet.
“Christian Atsu was found and had unfortunately passed away,” he said through a brief statement on social media.
Atsu shared a residence with several Hatayspor players and administrators. Taner Savut, the club’s director of athletics, is also absent.
On February 5, hours before the earthquake hit, Atsu scored in stoppage time to give Hatayspor a 1-0 victory over Kasimpaşa S.K. of Istanblul in the Turkish league, earning praise from his new team.
Following the earthquakes and aftershocks in southern Turkey and northern Syria, which are known to have killed more than 40,000 people, some survivors are still being rescued.
Atsu signed with Hatayspor in the latter part of last year after previously playing for English clubs Chelsea and Newcastle. The club has its headquarters in Antakya, which is close to the epicenter of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that occurred in the early hours of February 6—one of two significant quakes—and the subsequent aftershocks that wreaked havoc across southern Turkey and northern Syria.
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