Christian Atsu: Soccer star died in earthquake in Turkey

For Christian Atsu, the terrible suspicion has become a certainty: the Ghanaian soccer professional died in the devastating earthquake in Turkey. He was 31 years old. Accordingly, the body of the Hatayspor winger was found under the rubble of a collapsed house in Antakya. Atsu has been missing since the February 6 earthquake.

At the time of the natural disaster, Atsu was in a 12-story luxury condominium complex that was only built in 2013. The collapse of the plant caused massive outrage in the Turkish media, as building regulations were obviously violated. The contractor responsible was arrested four days after the quake at Istanbul Airport. Apparently he wanted to flee to Montenegro to avoid prosecution.

Christian Atsu had his most successful period at Newcastle United

Atsu moved to Europe from his native Ghana as a teenager and initially joined FC Porto. He then spent a long time in the English Premier League, where he was under contract with Chelsea FC, among others. After five successful years at Newcastle United, he first moved to Saudi Arabia in 2021 and only signed a contract with the Turkish first division club Hatayspor in September 2022. Overall, he slipped on the national jersey of Ghana 60 times.

Meanwhile, the number of people killed by the earthquake in Turkey has risen to 40,642. This was announced by the head of the Turkish civil protection authority Afad, Yunus Sezer, on Saturday, according to the state news agency Anadolu. In Syria, around 5,900 people have died in connection with the devastating earthquakes. However, the number is only updated irregularly.

Read at stern +: More than ten days have passed since several earthquakes shook southern Turkey and northern Syria. Far more than 46,000 victims have been counted so far. How is the situation on site? Ten questions for stern correspondent Jonas Breng, who is experiencing the development on site.