Italian volleyball player Julia Ituma dies in Istanbul hotel

By Filiz Kinik Oz

ISTANBUL (AA) - Italian volleyball club Igor Gorgonzola Novara's spiker Julia Ituma died after she fell from a hotel window in Istanbul early Thursday, healthcare professionals confirmed.

After a call, Turkish police and paramedics rushed to the scene as healthcare professionals confirmed that Ituma, 18, fell to her death from the sixth floor of the hotel.

Her club said they are "deeply saddened" by Ituma's death and offered condolences to her family and friends.

The Turkish police are investigating the case, according to the Italian club.

In addition, the Italian volleyball body said that a minute of silence will be observed in all Italian volleyball matches this week to pay tribute to Ituma.

Igor Gorgonzola Novara women's team were in Istanbul to face Türkiye's Eczacibasi Dynavit for the second leg game in the 2023 CEV Champions League semifinals on Wednesday.

Eczacibasi Dynavit qualified for the final after beating Igor Gorgonzola 3-0 at home. The Italian club won the first leg 3-2 on April 5.

The 2023 champions will be unveiled after the Super Finals on May 20 in Italy's Turin.

Istanbul police, who watched the camera footage that shows the hotel's facade, confirmed that Ituma died after falling from the window at 0231GMT by hitting the awnings.

In another camera footage that showed inside the hotel, Ituma left her room at 1949GMT to talk on the phone and then sat in front of her room for an hour before getting inside again.

Police and hotel staff then entered her room to wake Lucia Varela Gomez, her Spanish teammate and roommate. Gomez told police that she last talked to Ituma at 2230GMT on Wednesday night and slept then.