Cameroonian international Stephane Bahoken has said he almost died, after an intensity of tremors brought down tower blocks and public buildings in Turkey, where he plays.
The earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria also impacted the sports world. Currently in Kasimpasa and present during thd tragic episode in southern Turkey, Stéphane Bahoken recounted the tragic incidey on Europe 1 Sport.
The 30-year-old was awaken in the early hours of Monday morning by violent trembling: “Around four in the morning, the hotel shook. I was sleeping and suddenly I felt my bed move, I could feel the cupboards and windows breaking in my room and it increased every minute. It must have lasted less than a minute but at the time I felt like it lasted at least five to six minutes.” Bahoken voiced.
Safe and sound thanks to the anti-seismic foundations of the hotel, he forward took some videos after he left the hotel. “I clung to my bed and waited for the earthquake to pass. We were lucky that our hotel had anti-seismic foundations. Afterwards, i got all my stuff and joined my teammates. Some were barefoot. We waited in front of the hotel,” explained the 30-year-old. At the time, Stéphane Bahoken did not realize what was happening.
“At the time, I didn’t know what was happening. It was later, seeing a building that collapsed in front of the hotel, that I thought to myself that the hotel could have fallen on my head. We could really have died because of this earthquake. We really missed death”, the former player of Angers testified.
Not everyone was as lucky as Stéphane Bahoken. The disaster particularly affected football player Onur Ergün, who saw his Villa completely brought down by the violent earthquake. He was only found alive from the rubble on Tuesday morning.
Baris Basdas, a player playing for Yeni Malatyaspor, was seriously injured when he jumped from the balcony of his collapsing house. Even more tragically, goalkeeper Eyüp Türkaslan was found dead. The body which governs the Turkish championship has taken the decision to suspend the matches. Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Bestikas and Trabzonspor appealed for donations from their supporters as numerous messages of support from clubs and players around the world were posted on social media.
