Alanyaspor Player Josef Sural Killed in Minibus Crash, Aged 28

Aytemiz Alanyaspor and Czech Republic footballer Josef Sural was killed on Sunday in a minibus crash, aged 28.

As Reuters relayed, seven of club's players hired the vehicle to travel from their Turkish top-flight match with Kayserispor. Turkish news agency Anadolu said the crash happened around 3.1 miles from the town of Alanya on the southern coast of the country.

Sural is reported to have died in hospital after the crash. Six of his team-mates were also taken to hospital.

Alanyaspor confirmed Sural had died on Twitter:

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

The club's chairman, Hasan Cavusoglu, told Anadolu (h/t Alex Richards of the Daily Mirror) the crash happened as a result of the drivers falling asleep.

"According to information I received from our police chief, despite there being two drivers on the vehicle, they were both asleep," he said. "The crash happened as a result of them both being asleep."

Also on the minibus were former Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse and ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool defender Steven Caulker, per Richards.

As Reuters noted, Cavusoglu said none of the other players involved were in a critical condition.

Sural played 20 times for the Czech Republic, netting one goal. Before moving to Alanyaspor in January 2019, the forward had spells with Sparta Prague and Slovan Liberec.