Soccer Player Hiannick Kamba Discovered Alive After Being Presumed Dead for Years

Hiannick Kamba, a former soccer player from Germany, was declared dead following a car wreck in 2016. However, the Congolese athlete has been discovered to be alive and currently in Germany, according to PEOPLE. German prosecutor Anette Milk told PEOPLE Kamba is not dead and there are no doubts about his identity. Milk also said an investigation into fraud is underway against his wife. She was collecting a six-figure life insurance payment after Kamba’s passing.

Kamba was a member of the German soccer team Schalke 04. It was reported he was killed in a car crash in his native Democratic Republic of Congo. However, Kamba claims “his companions had left him during the night while on a trip to the interior of the Congo in January 2016 and they took his papers, money and telephone,” Milk said to the Bild, transcribed by the New York Post. He was found to be alive in Gelsenkirchen, located in western Germany. In 2018, Kamba went to the German embassy to announce he’s not dead, but it has been a struggle for the last couple of years due to him not having any papers.

Currently, Kamba works as a chemical technician for an energy supply company. He said he’s not aware of his ex-wife’s alleged actions and will be a witness in the case. The ex-wife was not identified in the original story, but they have a 10-year old daughter together. This news has to be surprising for many who thought Kamba was dead. “He represented the ideas and values ​​of our club like few others,” Kamba’s former club Vfb Huls said in a statement back in 2016. “His demise will leave a big gap. Hiannick is undoubtedly a bitter sporting loss for us, but primarily we will miss it as a fellow human being.”

According to The Comeback, Kamba’s parents fled Congo to Germany in 1986 but were deported in 2005. Kamba was able to stay since he was offered a contract by Schalke and offered asylum and residency rights. Kamba played for a team that is ranked the 14th most valuable soccer franchise in the world, according to Forbes. The team is worth $683 million and has won seven domestic league championships. The club made $291 million in revenue this past year.