Julia Ituma, an Italian-Nigerian volleyball player who died after falling from her hotel window, was captured in CCTV footage in her final moments.
Her team, Igor Gorgonzola Novara, had just been eliminated from the Champions League semi-finals in Turkey when the unfortunate incident occurred.
Following her team’s loss, the 18-year-old Italian volleyball star of Nigerian origin was discovered dead on Thursday morning, April 13, at her hotel in Istanbul, Turkey.
In the security footage from inside the hotel, Ituma is seen walking slowly while talking on the phone. She then sat outside the door to her room for about an hour in a “pensive and thoughtful” way, before entering her room for the last time, police said.
The rising volleyball star and ‘next big thing’ had been representing her team, Igor Gorgonzola Novara, in their second-leg knockout match against Turkish side Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul, in which she had scored two points despite their loss.
The exact circumstances of the accident are currently unknown.
The Igor Novara players and staff had returned to the hotel after their 3-0 defeat when the tragedy occurred.
According to CNN Turk, Ituma was discovered motionless on the ground outside the Valley Hotel at around 5.30 a.m. on Thursday. She was pronounced dead shortly after paramedics and emergency responders arrived on the scene.
Local police confirmed that an investigation into the incident has begun. Her body was later sent for forensic examination in order to determine the cause of her tragic death.
Ituma was born in Milan to Nigerian parents and was regarded as one of Italy’s most promising volleyball players. She began playing volleyball when she was 11 years old.
She had joined Igor Gorgonzola Novara three seasons before, having transferred from Club Italia. Ituma had recently finished the season with Igor, finishing fifth in the national Serie A1 league.
Ituma won a gold medal with the Under-19 Italian national team at the European Championship and the European Youth Olympic Festival last year. Prior to that, she was a runner-up with the Under-18 team following their 2021 defeat to Russia.
