Former Chelsea and Newcastle winger Christian Atsu has been trapped under rubble after the tragic earthquake hit Turkey as per local reports. Turkish publication Star reported a search-and-rescue operation has been ordered to find the Ghana star after he was caught in the middle of the 7.8 magnitude quake on Monday.
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Several members of Hatayspor, Atsu’s club, had to be rescued by specialists from their homes after the earthquake struck at 4 am local time. But reports state the former Chelsea player Atsu and Hatayspor's sporting director Taner Savut are still missing under rubble at their respective homes. The earthquake hit hard in Kahramanmaras, where Hatayspor is based.
Similarly, two players and members of the technical staff were "pulled out of the rubble" in one of these dramatic rescue operations. Hence local authorities trying their hardest to find ex-Everton loanee Atsu and Savut as quickly as possible. He isn't the only football player stuck in this situation as Yeni Malatyaspor goalie Ahmet Eyup was also trapped and was sadly found buried under the rubble of the earthquake in Turkey
His coach, Yılmaz Vural gave a statement about the tragic incident and said, "I gave the team two days off after the game. Many players were not in Malatya. Only our second goalkeeper, Ahmet Eyüp Türkaslan, was there. They saved his wife... I am devastated."
Chelsea signed Atsu as a youngster in 2013 from Porto before sending him on a number of loan spells. In this span, he played for Everton and Bournemouth before making a permanent move to Newcastle United in 2017. Astu never played a Premier League game for Chelsea.
The Ghana international then left the Toon after playing over 100 games in 2021 and joined Saudi side Al-Raed. Atsu was then transferred to Turkey in the summer. He scored his first goal for the club this weekend, just hours before the earthquake struck. Reacting to this he tweeted about the moment expressing elation and gratitude.
Check out the tweet here:
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