The body of Christian Atsu, winger of the Ghana national football team, arrived in Accra yesterday evening, a day after it was found under the rubble of the building he lived in after it was destroyed by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Turkey.
Atsu, 31, has been missing since the collapse of the apartment building in Hatay since the sixth of this month.
Ghana’s Vice President Muhammadu Bawumya was at the head of the coffin of the player, draped in the country’s flag, at the Kotoko International Airport in the capital, Accra.
The director of Hatayspor said that Atsu had withdrawn from leaving Turkey hours before the devastating earthquake, after he scored the winning goal for his competing team in the Turkish Football League.
The former Ghanaian player scored the winning goal 1-0 against Qasim Pasha minutes before the end of the match that was held on the fifth of this month.
Atsu played with Chelsea, Newcastle United and Everton and spent a period in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Raed before moving to Hatayspor in September 2022.
Atsu played 65 matches for Ghana and helped them reach the final of the 2015 African Cup of Nations, when the team lost to Ivory Coast on penalties. He last participated with Ghana in 2019.
“We extend our deepest condolences to his wife, children, family, loved ones and the football community. May he rest in peace,” the Ghana Football Association said on Saturday.
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