FACT-CHECK: Caucasian woman seen crying in viral video is NOT Christian Atsu’s wife

Claim: Christian Atsu’s wife is seen crying in a viral video over his death

Source: Social media

Verdict: MISLEADING

Researched by Gifty Tracy Aminu

A video of a Caucasian woman having a moment of grief and reflecting on the loss of a loved one is being shared across social media platforms (here and here), and being portrayed as showing the wife of former Black Stars winger Christian Atsu.

Viewed close to a million times on Facebook, the 2 minutes 58 seconds long video was posted on the popular social media platform with the caption: “Christian Atsu’s wife Tears Flow.”

“A lot of you are asking if I am doing okay now, I am not, but I am trying. I am trying to be strong. I have three kids, and they need me. I don’t want to eat, I don’t want to talk, I don’t want to sleep. I don’t want to do anything. I just want to be there with him. But life goes on,” the grieving woman said in the video.

The video is however being linked to the death of Christian Atsu, the Ghana footballer international who was confirmed dead on February 18, 2023, after being trapped under rubble in the aftermath of the earthquake that occurred between the borders of Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023 – causing the death of over 40,000 people.

Fact-Check

Checks by GhanaFact showed the viral video was first shared on TikTok on February 19, 2023, and has since gathered over 10 million views.

It was a video created by Sofia Kasy, a TikTok user, mourning the death of her fiancé, who also lost his life under rubble following the earthquake in Turkey.

“Please pray for my fiancé. It’s day three, and he is still under there. Please, I am begging you all,” she requested from her followers in a video posted on February 8, 2022, that also showed pictures of her fiancé and a collapsed apartment complex.

Subsequently, Sofia Kasy, in another TikTok video, issued a disclaimer and denied claims that she was the wife of the late Ghana football star.

“I am not Atsu’s wife. I lost my fiancé in the earthquake. I have three girls (kids)… Stop commenting that I should be ashamed for posting lies. It’s not a lie. My fiancé passed away in the earthquake. It hurts so much,” she stated in a video.

The late Christian Atsu was married to Marie-Claire Rupio, a German, with whom they had three children – two boys and a girl, and were based in the United Kingdom.

The last public statement of Marie-Claire Rupio’s about her husband, Christian Atsu, was on the BBC when the search for the footballer and other survivors was still ongoing following the devastating earthquake.

Verdict

The claim that the grieving woman in the viral video is Christian Atsu’s wife is FALSE. The video is being MISLEADINGLY portrayed.