Czech striker from Turkey's Alanyaspor dead after bus accident

Czech football player Josef Sural from Turkey’s top tier Aytemiz Alanyaspor was killed after a minibus carrying players from the club crashed while returning from an away match.

Sural, a striker for Alanyaspor and the Czech national team, died at the hospital where he and six of his teammates were taken after the crash, the club said on Twitter.

Seven Alanyaspor players had rented a VIP minibus to return from the club’s 1-1 draw against Kayserispor on Sunday and the bus crashed some 5 km from Alanya, Anadolu Agency reported.

The rest of the club’s players and staff had returned with the team bus or on their own, the report said, adding that the driver of the VIP bus had been detained following the accident and an investigation had been launched.

Club Chairman Hasan Cavusoglu was quoted as saying the driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel of the minibus. A second driver was asleep at the time. Cavusoglu added the other six players injured in the crash were not in critical condition.