Emilio Ballack, the son of former German star player Michael Ballack, died at age 18 in a quad-bike accident in Portugal on Thursday.
The news was confirmed by Chelsea Football Club, Ballack’s former team, in a tweet Friday morning.
“Everybody associated with Chelsea Football Club is shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Emilio Ballack at the terribly young age of 18,” the organization wrote. “All our thoughts are with his father Michael and his family at this sad time.”
According to Reuters, Emilio was vacationing in Portugal when the accident occurred near Lisbon, the country’s capital. The outlet said emergency services arrived to help Emilio, but he died at the scene just after 2 a.m.
Ballack’s former teammate on FC Bayern Munich, Oliver Kahn, said the tragedy “shook” him deeply.
Everybody associated with Chelsea Football Club is shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Emilio Ballack at the terribly young age of 18.
“The news about Emilio’s death shook [me] deeply,” he said on the team’s website. “There are no words at a time like this. FC Bayern’s thoughts are with our former teammate Michael Ballack and all his family.”
While details around the crash are sparse, Yahoo Sports reported it may have happened near one of Ballack’s homes in Troia, located south of Lisbon.
Emilio was born in 2002 and is the middle of Ballack’s three children with Simone Lambe, per the outlet.
On the FC Bayern website, team president Herbert Hainer said Emilio’s death came as a “shock.”
“This news is a huge shock for the whole FC Bayern family and for me personally,” he said. “I’ve known and admired Michael for over 20 years, I am incredibly sorry for him and his family. I now wish them all the strength in the world.”
