Former Newcastle and Chelsea player Christian Atsu has been found alive in the rubble of the Turkey earthquake
Christian Atsu, a football player from Ghana, was reportedly “trapped” after an earthquake in Turkey but has since been discovered alive.
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake that happened on Monday, February 6, was felt by the 31-year-old defender, who has played for both Newcastle and Chelsea.
According to Portuguese news agency A Bola, Atsu was pulled from the wreckage and taken to the hospital after sustaining injuries to his right foot and respiratory problems.
Atsu’s current club, Hatayspor, is situated in the Turkish city of Hatay, which is thought to be among the regions most severely impacted by the disaster. Taner Savut, the club’s sporting director, and an interpreter were reportedly stranded after the earthquake in addition to Atsu.
Following the event, several footballers, including Onur Ergun and Burak Oksuz, were rescued. Ruben Ribeiro and Ze Luis, two additional Atsu colleagues, are unharmed, and Kerim Alici was able to escape the debris.
Before coming to St. James’ Park, Atsu spent time with a number of different Premier League teams, including Everton and Bournemouth. Atsu left Porto and joined Chelsea as a young player back in 2013.
He signed on with Hatayspor in the summer, and on Sunday night, just hours before the catastrophe that has rocked Turkey, he scored his first goal for the team.
It has been reported that at least 2,619 people have lost their lives following the incident with over 12,000 more believed to be injured across Turkey and Syria. A massive aftershock with a magnitude of 7.5 hit the south of Turkey just hours after the original quake.
