Female Turkish basketball player Nilay Aydogan found dead among the rubble following devastating earthquake that has left 33,000 dead across the region, country’s basketball federation announces
- The country’s basketball federation announced the sad loss of Nilay Aydogan
- Aydogan played for host of teams in the country including Cankaya and Samsun
- Turkish basketball player was found dead among the rubble with grandmother
The tragic news of the death of Turkish basketball player Nilay Aydogan in last week’s earthquake has been announced by the sport’s federation in the country.
Aydogan, 30, who played for Turkish Super League side Cankaya University, had reportedly gone 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.
Announcing the news 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.
It has been announced that Nilay Aydogan – a female Turkish basketball player – has been found dead
‘May God have mercy on the deceased, we offer our condolences to her family, relatives and basketball community.’
Aydogan had played for a number of teams across her career in Turkey, including Osmaniye, Yalova and Mersin in the Turkish second division.
She played for Canik Belediye during the 2017-18 campaign, before moving onto Cankaya.
Having enjoyed a season with Cankaya, she moved to Mersin for a season in the second tier, before returning to the Ankara side.
She had also enjoyed appearances for the country’s youth sides earlier on in her career.
The earthquake that struck in the early hours of last Monday has devastated towns and cities
Her final game for Cankaya came in a victory against Hatayspor days before the earthquake struck.
Aydogan is the latest athlete in Turkey to have lost their life in the tragic natural disaster to hit the country last week.
It has left more than 30,000 people dead and thousands more displaced, with smaller settlements, towns and cities all lying in ruin.
Malayta, where Aydogan was reportedly visiting, is roughly 135 miles east of Kahramanmaras, in the south east of the country, close to the border with Syria.
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