Ex-Chelsea player Christian Atsu ‘found ALIVE’ after ‘voice heard’ under rubble of home destroyed in Turkey earthquake
EX-Chelsea player Christian Atsu has been found alive in the rubble of the Turkey earthquake after his voice was heard, it was reported.
The 31-year-old Ghana ace is believed to have been on the ninth floor of an apartment block when two earthquakes rocked Turkey on Monday, devastating at least 12 cities and killing thousands.
GettyChristian Atsu has been found in the rubble of the earthquake[/caption]
Rescuers searching the rubble of his apartment heard his voiceTwitter/@ajansspor
TwitterJust hours before the earthquake, Atsu scored a last minute free kick[/caption]
InstagramSeveral of Atsu’s Hatayspor teammates have been rescued but the ace is still missing[/caption]
Atsu, who has three kids with wife Marie-Claire, plays for Hatayspor, who he joined last summer.
The earthquake hit hard in Kahramanmaras, where Hatayspor are based.
According to local media reports Atsu’s voice was heard under the rubble, along with that of Hatayspor’s Sporting Director Taner Savut.
Video showed rescuers with search lights looking in the rubble of his apartment block during the night.
Several of his teammates were dramatically rescued from their homes after the earthquake struck at 4am local time.
Reports claimed Atsu had been found early in the evening, but these were dismissed by Hatayspor manager Mustafa Ozat.
Atsu, who scored deep into stoppage time on Saturday to secure a 1-0 win over Kasimpasa, left St James’ Park during the summer of 2021 after making 121 appearances for the club.
“Important win for the team. Happy to be on the scoresheet,” he tweeted.
Footage showed Atsu being mobbed by his teammates as ecstatic fans celebrated the win on social media, along with messages praying for him to be found.
Newcastle and Chelsea are anxiously awaiting news of their former player.
A post on Newcastle’s official Twitter account said: “Praying for some positive news, @ChristianAtsu20.”
While Chelsea tweeted: “We’re praying for you, Christian Atsu.”
He joined Chelsea from Porto for £3.5million in 2013 but didn’t make a single appearance for the Premier League giants.
Atsu took in loans at Vitesse, Everton, Bournemouth, Malaga and Newcastle.
And the Magpies made his deal permanent in 2017 after Atsu played a key role in their promotion from the Championship.
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The ace ended up making 86 appearances for Newcastle before joining Al-Raed in 2021.
Atsu moved to Hatayspor last summer and has one goal in four games for the Turks.
It comes as many thousands are feared dead after two “once-in-a-century” earthquakes rocked Turkey and Syria today.
A massive 7.8 magnitude shock – one of the biggest for 100 years – was followed hours later by another huge 7.5 magnitude quake.
Frantic survivors used their bare hands to dig through the rubble of flattened homes and were filmed pulling children to safety amid scenes of utter destruction.
The twin earthquakes also sparked tsunami alerts on Mediterranean coasts in Greece, Cyprus and Italy, and shaking was felt as far away as Egypt and Iran.
