AP – Ghana international footballer Christian Atsu is missing after the earthquake in Turkiye, his club and agent said Thursday, following earlier reports he was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building and taken to a hospital.
Atsu’s well-being and whereabouts were unknown. Deputy head of Hatayspor football club Aydin Toksoz told Turkiye’s state-run Anadolu Agency news service that club sporting director Taner Savut was also missing after the massive earthquake.
The 31-year-old Atsu, who previously played for English clubs Chelsea and Newcastle, signed for Hatayspor late last year.
The club is based in the southern city of Antakya, near the epicenter of the earthquake that struck in the early hours of Monday and devastated the region.
Atsu and Savut were believed to have been in buildings that collapsed, the club had said.
Nana Sechere, the agent for Atsu, said in messages to The Associated Press that he traveled to Turkiye to try to find Atsu but the player “is yet to be found.”
“We have not been able to reach Atsu or Taner Savut,” Toksoz told the Anadolu Agency.
Antakya is one of the cities hardest hit by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
