Soccer Star Christian Atsu Found Dead From Turkey Earthquake

The unfathomable loss of life from a devastating earthquake in Turkey continues to rise - and has now affected the sports world.

Former Premier League soccer player Christian Atsu was found dead this past week in the earthquake rubble. The Turkish-Syrian earthquake has killed over 45,000 people so far.

Atsu was currently playing for the Turkish soccer club Hatayspor and was in Turkey when the devastating incident occurred. Hours earlier he was scheduled to fly out of the country, but changed his flight so he could remain with his team - unaware of what would lie ahead.

On Saturday morning, Hatayspor confirmed the star's passing on their social media.

The Premier League also extended their condolences.

ATSU APPEARED IN A GAME THE DAY BEFORE

A day after the earthquakes happened, there were initial reports that Atsu had been found. Unfortunately those turned out to be false. Hatayspor's sporting director Taner Savut has also not been found yet.

Both men were staying at the Ronesans Rezidan building, which is 12-stories in height when the earthquake occurred across parts of Turkey and Syria. The contractor of the building was detained at the Istanbul Airport last week, as he was trying to flee the country.

Atsu played for a variety of English Premier League clubs including Chelsea and Newcastle United.

He had just scored the game-winning goal for Hataysport the day before.