Josef Sural, who plays for Turkish Aytemiz Alanyaspor, has died in a bus accident that happened in the early hours of Monday morning.
Šural, a Czech Republic international striker, died after the incident in which a VIP mini-bus crash following Alanyaspor’s 1-1 draw with Kayserispor on Sunday.
Seven players, including one-cap England defender Steven Caulker and ex-Newcastle and Senegal striker Papiss Cisse, rented the Mercedes for the journey back from Kayseri on Sunday night.
Djalma Campos, Baiano, Welinton and Isaac Sackey were the other players involved in the accident; Sackey reportedly suffered a broken arm.
The vehicle went off the road approximately 5km from the Turkish Mediterranean city Alanya at around 2:30am local time.
Šural, who won 20 caps for his country and scored once, was rushed to a nearby hospital and immediately taken for an operation, but could not be saved by doctors after suffering a fatal head injury.
According to Alanyaspor’s chairman Hasan Çavuşoğlu, the bus had two drivers and both fell asleep.
“According to information I received from our police chief, despite there being two drivers on the vehicle, they were both asleep,” Çavuşoğlu said.
“The crash happened as a result of them both being asleep.”
Both have been detained by police and an investigation has been launched.
Šural, a father of two, moved to Turkey from his homeland in January, signing from Sparta Prague.
The Football Association of the Czech Republic said on Twitter: “The Football Association of the Czech Republic has accepted with great grief the news that striker Josef Sural died tragically in Turkey.
“We’ll never forget you, Pepo!”
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