Kütahya, 32, his five-year-old son Çınar, his pregnant wife Pelin and mother-in-law Nurten Mutlu were found in the remnants of their house in Hatay seven days after the earthquake.

"It is with deep sadness that we learned of the death of Cemal Kütahya, the captain of our national men's handball team, and his son Çınar, who were buried under the rubble of the house where they lived in the town of Antakya," said a release from the Türkiye Handball Federation (THF).

Kütahya was the captain of the Turkish national team and the beach handball national team and was the top scorer in the 2019 and 2021 beach handball EUROs.

Kütahya last played for Özel Vefakent Hatay Büyükşehir Belediyesi Sports Club, and his team was top of the Turkish Super League after 14 wins and one draw this season.

In total, Kütahya had more than 150 national caps in indoor and beach handball.

Other Sports Club players and coaching team were affected by the earthquake but managed to survive.

Kütahya previously played at club level for B.B. Ankaraspor, Beykoz Belediyesi SK and Romanian club CSU Suceava before returning to his native Türkiye to feature for Hatay Büyükșehir Belediyespor.

In a release, the International Handball Federation said it "would like to offer condolences to Kütahya's family and friends and also to the hard-hit nations of Türkiye and Syria after this enormous and unprecedented tragedy."

The European Handball Federation added: "At this challenging time, the EHF would like to send its sympathy to his extended family, friends and teammates, his club Hatay, and the Turkish Handball Federation."

"Cemal Kütahya will be fondly remembered on both the indoor and beach handball court."