Christian Atsu, a former Chelsea and Newcastle United footballer who died in the February earthquake in Turkey, was laid to rest today, March 17.
Christian Atsu, who made his international debut for Ghana in 2012, was given a festival-style burial in Accra, Ghana’s capital city.
Hundreds of people attended the burial ceremony at Ghana’s presidential villa, including the country’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, to pay their last respects.
At the funeral, there were also representatives from Ghana’s national team and Atsu’s Turkish club Hatayspor.
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that Christian Atsu left the Saudi Arabian club Al Raed last summer to join the Turkish club Hatayspor.
Unfortunately, he was declared missing on February 6 after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey, causing the collapse of a building he was in.
After a series of back and forth, his management team announced on February 18 that the former Newcastle star had been found dead.
His ashes were later flown to Ghana, his home country, for burial, which occurred earlier today.
During Christian Atsu’s funeral, his wife, Marie-Claire Rupio, paid an emotional tribute to her husband, who died at the age of 31 and left behind two sons and a daughter.
In tears, Marie-Claire Rupio read;
In life I love you, darling, in death, I’ll do the same.
You did not go alone, for part of me went with you. Your smile, your love I see in our children’s smiles.
Atsu played 65 times for Ghana, helping the team get to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Equatorial Guinea, where he was named player of the competition and also won the goal of the tournament.
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