Ghana footballer found dead in earthquake rubble

With over 45,000 killed, the death toll is expected to soar with around 2,64,000 apartments in Turkey destroyed, and many still missing in the country’s worst disaster

Former Ghana international footballer Christian Atsu was found dead on Saturday, almost two weeks after a devastating earthquake in Turkey. Atsu, 31, was caught up in a 7.8-magnitude quake that rocked Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing more than 45,000 people in both countries.

There were initial reports the former Chelsea and Newcastle player had been rescued a day after the quake, but these turned out to be false. His manager in Turkey, Murat Uzunmehmet, told the news agency on Saturday that his body had been found under the rubble of luxury flats that crumbled in the Turkish southern province of Hatay.

“We have reached his lifeless body. His belongings are still being removed. His phone was also found,” Uzunmehmet told media. Ghana’s ministry of foreign affairs said it had “received the unfortunate news”. “The elder brother and twin sister of Christian Atsu and an officer of the (Ghanaian) embassy were present at the site when the body was recovered,” the ministry said in a statement.

Also Read: Turkey eyes post-quake reconstruction, while Syrian people seek more aid

More than 45,000 people have been killed in the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, and the toll is expected to soar with over 2,64,000 apartments in Turkey destroyed and many still missing in the country's worst modern disaster. Twelve days after the quake hit, three people, including a child, were rescued alive from the rubble of a building in Antakya city of southern Turkey on Saturday, 296 hours after the earthquake.

Damaged sites to be restored in Turkey

Historical sites that were devastated by the earthquakes in southern Turkey would be restored, a minister has confirmed. “Antakya is a mosaic, it is where religions come together,” Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told media, noting, “the Ministry will be taking on the responsibility of all registered buildings in the area... We will work together to rebuild them”.

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