A Turkish basketball player, Nilay Aydogan has been found dead among the rubble of collapsed buildings following last Monday’s earthquake in Turkey.
The country’s sports federation made the announcement on Monday, Basket News reports.
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake destroyed buildings and other infrastructure in southern Turkey and northern Syria early last Monday morning.
The 30-year-old Aydogan, who played for Turkish Super League side, Cankaya University, reportedly went to visit her grandmother in Malayta when the devastating earthquake struck, collapsing the apartment block.
The basketball player and her grandmother were found dead among the rubble, with the search continuing in hundreds of Turkish and northern Syrian settlements to try and find people still alive.
In a statement, the Turkish Basketball Federation said that they had learned of the news with “deep sadness.”
“We have learned with deep sadness that Nilay Aydogan, the national player of Cankaya University, one of the ING Women’s Basketball Super League teams, lost her life in the earthquake disaster,” they said.
“May God have mercy on the deceased, we offer our condolences to her family, relatives and basketball community.”
Aydogan played for a number of teams across her career in Turkey, including Osmaniye, Yalova and Mersin in the Turkish second division.
The deceased is the latest athlete in Turkey to have lost their life in the tragic natural disaster to hit the country last week.