Christian Atsu, The 31-year-old Ghanaian, a former Newcastle and Chelsea player, played for Turkish top-flight club Hatayaspor.
Christian Atsu, the former Newcastle and Chelsea Ghanaian footballer, has died. The player was missing after the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on 6 February, causing over 45,000 victims: his body was found in the rubble of the building where he lived in Antioch, as confirmed by his agent of him.
The Ghanaian, 31, used to play for the top-flight Turkish club Hatayaspor. “It is with sorrow that I announce the discovery of Christian’s body this morning. My most profound condolences go out to his family and loved ones. I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support,” sports agent Nana Sechere wrote.
In a previous, An earthquake measuring 7.9 struck eastern Turkey and northern Syria. The quake caused serious collapses of many buildings, causing over 2,300 dead and thousands to be injured, but the toll is still provisional.
The earthquake happened at a depth of 20 km. Most of the deaths were recorded in Kahramanmaras, the epicenter province of the earthquake, and in particular in the city of Gaziantep. The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called it “the strongest earthquake since 1939”.
As for Syria, victims are, above all, in Hama, Aleppo, and Latakia. Testimonies collected from these areas refer to telecommunications blackouts and aftershocks that are still ongoing. At 11.24 a new shock of magnitude 7.5 occurred in the same area at a depth of 28 km.
