• Christian Atsu remembered as a philanthropist.
• He was 31, when he dies in Turkey.
• More than 54,000 people were killed in Turkey.

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

Atsu had gone missing following the February 6 earthquake, which resulted in the collapse of an apartment building in Hatay. His body was discovered beneath the rubble and flown back to Ghana.

He was 31. Mourners walked silently past Atsu’s coffin, which was draped in Ghana’s national flag. Family, fans, and those who benefited from his charitable contributions remembered him as a philanthropist.

“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 was scheduled to leave southern Turkey hours before the earthquake, but the Ghanaian chose to stay with the club after scoring the game-winning goal in a Super Lig match on February 5.

More than 54,000 people were killed in Turkey and Syria as a result of the disaster.

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