Former Chelsea and Germany midfielder, Michael Ballack, has lost his 18-year-old son, Emilio, who died in a quad bike accident on Thursday morning.

UK Sun reports that the accident happened around 2am in Troia south of Lisbon, close to a house his retired footballer dad purchased years ago in Portugal.

According to local reports, including Portuguese TV channel TVI24, who reported that Emilio was involved in the accident at 2.10am, Emilio had to be ‘rescued by firefighters’ out of the vehicle, in the crash that occurred near an apartment block known as Villas do Mar.

Details of the fatal accident have not yet been made public.

Emilio is one of three children the former Bayern Munich player had with Simone Lambe, the long-term girlfriend he married in July 2008.

Ballack joined Chelsea in 2006 and won honours in his first season at the club before departing Stamford Bridge in 2010 after registering 105 appearances and 17 goals for the Blues.