Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu, of the Turkish club Hatayspor, was found dead under the rubble of his building in Hatay in southern Turkey, his agent announced on Saturday quoted by the Turkish private agency DHA.
“Atsu’s lifeless body was found under the rubble. We take our stuff out again. His phone was also found,” said his agent Murat Uzunmehmet.
According to Turkish media, the 31-year-old former Chelsea and Newcastle in England player was under the rubble of the Rönesans residence, a 12-storey tower that collapsed in the earthquake.
The Ghanaian Embassy in Turkey and the Ghana Football Federation initially claimed that the striker had been found alive, but this information was later proven to be false.
The developer of the luxury residence turned into a ruin, where 800 people are believed to be buried, was arrested last week as he tried to leave Turkey. Atsu had joined Turkish club Hatayspor in September, based in the province of Hatay (south), near the epicenter of the violent earthquake which struck Turkey on February 6.
The earthquake, followed by powerful aftershocks, killed more than 40,000 people in Turkey and Syria, according to the latest official reports released on Friday, also leaving thousands injured and homeless in the freezing cold.