Ghana mourns footballer Christian Atsu killed in Turkey earthquake

Atsu had gone missing after the Feb. 6 earthquake following the collapse of an apartment building in Hatay. His body was later found under the rubble and flown back to Ghana.

Players from former Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu’s former club attend his funeral at the State House in Accra, Ghana. | Photo Credit: AFP

Ghanaians gathered outside the country’s parliament building in Accra on Friday for the state funeral of national soccer team winger Christian Atsu, who died during the earthquake in southern Turkey last month.

Atsu had gone missing after the Feb. 6 earthquake following the collapse of an apartment building in Hatay. His body was later found under the rubble and flown back to Ghana.

He was 31.

Mourners silently filed past Atsu’s coffin, which arrived draped in Ghana’s national flag. Family, fans and beneficiaries of his charitable donations remembered him as a philanthropist.

The coffin of former Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu is seen during his funeral at the State House in Accra, Ghana. | Photo Credit: AFP

“He’s even more than a football player,” said Fedna Asare, a family friend. “His name will forever be in our hearts because he has helped a lot of people.”

Atsu had been scheduled to fly out of southern Turkey hours before the quake, but the Ghanaian had opted to stay with the club after scoring the winning goal in a Feb. 5 Super Lig match.

The disaster killed more than 54,000 people in Turkey and Syria.