Turkey Earthquake: How Christian Atsu’s Twin Sister Received Tragic News of Death of Her Other Half

• Christian Atsu's remains arrived in Ghana amid tears from family and friends
• He was killed in the earthquake which struck Turkey and Syria on February 6
• Atsu's twin sister Christiana was overwhelmed by emotions at the tragic death

The football world, especially fans from Ghana, has been thrown into mourning following the tragic death of sensational footballer, Christian Atsu.

His twin sister was captured at the Kotoka International Airport where she broke down in tears after sighting the casket containing her other half.

The look-alikes, Christian and Christiana were born on January 10, 1992, in Ada Foah - a town on the southeast coast of Ghana.

Christian then decided to pursue a career in football and broke into the Ghana senior national team in 2012, going on to make 65 appearances and scoring nine goals.

Atsu's journey to Turkey

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Atsu featured for English club, Newcastle United between 2017 and 2021, and for one season at Al Raed of Saudi Arabia.

On September 6 last year, he signed for Turkish Super Lig club, Hatayspor on an initial one-year contract with the option for a further year.

He managed to feature in three matches and scored one goal. In fact, it was his last goal that made him change his mind to remain in Turkey on that fateful night.

Why Atsu cancelled his flight

Atsu’s last-minute goal against Kasimpasa caused him to remain in the Asian country, according to findings.

He was scheduled to travel to meet with his family but was too excited at scoring his side’s winning goal and decided to stay back in the city.

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Hatayspor’s Administrative Manager, Fatih Ilek told Turkish outlet, Radyospor via the Mirror:

"Christian Atsu scored a last-minute goal in the Kasımpasa match. Actually, he was going abroad to visit his family. But when he played well and scored, he cancelled his ticket."

Ilek described the earthquake as happening on Atsu's happiest day.

"He had a flight at 11pm. Cancelled the ticket. There was an earthquake at 4am. Absolutely a tragedy."

Atsu among Turkey earthquake victims

More than 47,000 people have been confirmed dead while thousands of others are missing, with millions homeless following the disaster on February 6.

Guardian reports that in minutes, two massive earthquakes rocked Turkey and Syria, reducing entire cities into mounds of rubble.

Where was Christian Atsu?

Atsu was said to be in his apartment when disaster hit. Days went by and no one knew where the Ghanaian international was and a desperate search ensued.

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The footballer, who had been missing since the tremors caused the collapse of his apartment in Antakya, Hatay, was later found dead.

His remains were found amid the rubbles of the collapsed residence after almost two weeks of intense searching.

Atsu’s twin receives the news

Christiana Atsu looked shocked when the body of her other half landed at the Kotoka International Airport on Monday, February 20.

Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement:

"The elder brother and twin sister of Christian Atsu and an officer of the [Ghanaian] embassy was present at the site when the body was recovered."

Christiana was overwhelmed by emotions and became inconsolable upon seeing her footballer brother’s casket, which was wrapped in the Ghana colours.

She was in Turkey earlier and was part of the delegation that brought the remains of the former Black Stars man back to the country.

Kudus pays tribute to Atsu

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Sports Brief also reported on Ghana midfielder, Mohammed Kudus avoiding a yellow after his tribute to Atsu during the game between Ajax and Sparta Rotterdam.

The 22-year-old removed his jersey after scoring in the 4-0 win to pay his final respects to the late Black Stars winger, who died after the earthquake in Turkey.

Kudus was supposed to be given a yellow card for his actions, according to the rules of the game, but the referee showed mercy towards the player for his gesture.