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The body of Christian Atsu, the Ghana international forward long-feared dead in the Turkey earthquake has been recovered.
Search teams recovered the 31-year-old’s body in the ruins of a luxury 12-story building where he had been living in the city of Antakya, Hatay province, his manager said Saturday.
“Atsu’s (body) was found under the rubble. At the moment, his belongings are still being removed,” manager Murat Uzunmehmet told private news agency DHA.
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Atsu joined Turkish club Hatayspor in September and scored the winning goal for his new team in a league game at home against Kasimpaşa SK on February 5, just hours before the earthquake struck in the pre-dawn hours of February 6.
Antakya, the city where Hatayspor is based, is in the southern region of Turkey hardest hit by the earthquake.
The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude quake in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria passed 43,000 last week.
Hatayspor said Atsu’s body would be repatriated to Ghana. “There are no words to describe our sadness,” the club tweeted.
Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo posted a photo of Atsu on his official Twitter account and wrote: “Ghana football has lost one of its finest personnel and ambassadors, one who will be difficult to replace. He’ll be sorely missed.”
Former Ghana captain and teammate Asamoah Gyan tweeted “RIP Brother.”
The contractor of the 12-story Ronesans Rezidans building – where Atsu and the club’s sporting director Taner Savut lived – was detained at Istanbul Airport a week ago, apparently trying to leave the country.
Savut is still missing.
Atsu’s agent, Nana Sechere, traveled to Turkey with members of Atsu’s family in an attempt to find him, holding onto hopes that he might be alive amid the wreckage. Sechere had urged authorities and Hatayspor officials to step up their efforts in the search for Atsu and Savut.
Atsu played more than 60 times for Ghana and scored on his debut as a 20-year-old in 2012. He was part of the Ghana squad at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and starred at the 2015 African Cup of Nations, scoring two goals to help Ghana to the final, where it lost in a penalty shootout to Ivory Coast.
He was named the player of the tournament at that African Cup.
Atsu was signed by Chelsea in 2013 but his time there was limited to appearances in exhibition games and he was sent out on loan to various clubs over the next four years. The winger joined Newcastle on loan in 2016 and was part of the team that won promotion back to the Premier League in the 2016-17 season.
He signed a permanent deal with Newcastle in 2017 and spent four years there. The club said Saturday it was “profoundly saddened” by Atsu’s death.
“A talented player and a special person, he will always be fondly remembered by our players, staff and supporters,” Newcastle tweeted.
The Ghana Football Association added: “We would like to express our deepest condolences to his wife and children, the family, loved ones and the football community.”
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