Football player Christian Atsu’s remains has been transported back to Ghana from Turkey, where he perished two weeks ago during an earthquake.
His casket was taken away by soldiers from Ghana after the plane arrived in Accra late on Sunday.
Under his house in southern Turkey, Atsu was discovered dead on Saturday. He had been a player for the Hatayspor organization.
The winger made 65 appearances for Ghana’s national team and was instrumental in his country’s run to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations final.
The 31-year-old also played for Newcastle and Everton in the Premier League.
Vice-President of Ghana Mahamudu Bawmia said this while speaking at Kotoka Airport in Accra: “Every day that went by, we continued to pray despite having little hope. Sadly, he had vanished by the time he was discovered.”
Mr. Bawmia continued by saying how much everyone loved and missed the late football player. It is a hard loss, an extremely painful one.
He pledged to provide Atsu a “befitting” funeral.
Listen: Christian Atsu Atsu was reported missing after the collapse of his flat in Antakya, in the severely affected Hatay Province, as a result of the terrible 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6.
The player’s agency disclosed his death on Twitter on Saturday after the Hatayspor club initially claimed he had been saved with injuries. This statement was later reversed.
In southern Turkey and northern Syria, it has been established that over 44,000 people have died.
The footballer’s family and Francisca Ashietey-Odunton, Ghana’s ambassador to Turkey, accompanied the footballer’s remains from Turkey, according to Ghana’s foreign ministry.
Family members, government authorities, and members of the Ghana Football Association received the jet when it landed in Accra at 19:25 GMT.
A military hospital morgue was to get the coffin later.
For the deceased athlete, tributes have poured in.
Before to Newcastle’s Premier League match against Liverpool on Saturday, his wife Marie-Claire Rupio and their three children joined mourners in the city. From 2016 to 2021, Atsu was a player for Newcastle.
Away supporters screamed “you’ll never walk alone” before starting to applaud as Atsu’s face appeared on the big screen.
After scoring for Dutch team Ajax on Sunday, Ghana captain Mohammed Kudus showed his support for his former teammate by taking off his jersey to reveal a white shirt with the words “RIP Atsu” printed on it.
However, the organization Arms Around The Child acknowledged Atsu, who has served as an ambassador since 2016, and said that he had been the “primary beneficiary” of a school in Ghana that aids abandoned children, orphans, the chronically ill, and those who have been rescued from trafficking.
They claimed that Atsu was “a young child from poverty in Ghana who pursued his aspirations and used his talent and platform to assist others.”
