Turkey earthquake causes many victims in various sports teams

Kahramanmaraş - Turkey: The devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria the day before yesterday, Monday, caused casualties in various sports teams, according to the official Turkish News Agency (Anatolia), today, Wednesday.

Many people have been evacuated and fundraising efforts have also begun in the aftermath of the earthquake in the Turkish city of Hatay and 9 other southern provinces, which killed nearly 7,000 people in Turkey alone, according to the latest figures.

A number of players and officials of the Hatayspor and Gaziantep teams, who play in the first division football league in Turkey, as well as the Maltesespor team, which is active in the second division, were victims of the earthquake, either dead or missing.

Ghanaian star Christian Atsu, a player for Hatayspor, is still missing, despite recent reports that he got out of the rubble alive, and Taner Savot, the team's sports director, is still missing about 60 hours after the earthquake.

Hatayspor and Gaziantep teams were flown from the affected area to a safe place.

Ahmed Ayoub Turkslan, the goalkeeper of Maltesespor, died in the earthquake, and a member of Istiklalspor, one of the amateur teams belonging to the Kahramanmaraş region, died, while another was still trapped under the rubble, while a third member was in intensive care after being rescued.

Betul Coban Shakir, a player for the women's volleyball team at Gaziantep Club, and her husband Badrtin Jaker, as well as an amateur player in the Turkish League, also passed away.

Wrestlers from France, Kosovo and Uzbekistan, who were in Kahramanmaraş to participate in a tournament, were rescued, but some Turkish wrestlers are believed to be trapped there.

Nilay Aydogan, the Turkish women's basketball player, is still stuck in Malatya province.

The Gaziantep basketball team was in Istanbul at the time of the earthquake, and is now in Germany to participate in one of the European Cup matches for the game.

The Turkish NTV network reported that at least 15 athletes, including 11 players from a second-class volleyball team and four soccer players, are still trapped under the rubble of a hotel in Malatya province.

Relief efforts also included fund-raising, as the Turkish international player, Mirig Demirel, who plays for the Italian team Atalanta, sold a Cristiano Ronaldo shirt signed by the veteran Portuguese international, at auction, with the highest bid for his purchase amounting to more than 14,000 euros ($15,000). ), today is Wednesday.

Demiral pledged that "all proceeds from the auction will be used to support the earthquake zone.