There were heartbreaking scenes on Sunday night as the coffin carrying Christian Atsu's body landed at Accra airport in his native Ghana.
The winger, who spent time at Chelsea, Everton and Newcastle, was pronounced dead at the age of 31 at the weekend. His body was found 12 days after an earthquake rocked Turkey - where he played for top-flight club Hatayspor - and Syria, leading to the destruction of his apartment building in Antakya.
Atsu's body was flown to his homeland on Sunday and the plane was met by Ghana's vice-president, Mahamudu Bawumia, and a large detail of soldiers. As one of his country's leading athletes and a kind-hearted philanthropist, Atsu was a hugely popular figure among Ghanaians, and dozens of mourners turned out to pay their respects to him.
