• Christian Atsu had been rescued from the rubble of the earthquake debris.
• Atsu signed with Hatayspor in September and is receiving treatment.
• He won final of his 60 Ghana national team appearances in September 2019.

Ghana’s Football Association announced on Tuesday that football player Christian Atsu had been rescued from the earthquake debris that had killed thousands and maimed countless others in Turkey and neighbouring Syria.

Atsu, a former Newcastle midfielder, signed with Hatayspor in September. Hatayspor is headquartered in the southern province of Hatay, close to the epicentre of Monday’s powerful earthquake.

“Good news! We´ve received some positive news that Christian Atsu has been successfully rescued from the rubble of the collapsed building and is receiving treatment,” Ghana´s football body said on Twitter.

Update: We’ve received some positive news that Christian Atsu has been successfully rescued from the rubble of the collapsed building and is receiving treatment.

Let’s continue to pray for Christian🙏🏽

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— Ghana Football Association (@ghanafaofficial) February 7, 2023

“Let´s continue to pray for Christian,” it added.

Atsu “has been located,” according to Francisca Ashietey-Odunton, Ghana’s ambassador to Turkey, who was speaking to Accra’s Asaase Radio at the time.

The comments provided no information regarding Atsu’s condition or the time that he was rescued from the rubble.

After a first season on loan, Atsu played over 100 games throughout his five seasons at Newcastle before departing for Saudi Arabia in 2021.

In September 2019, he won the final of his 60 Ghana national team appearances.

It should be recalled that on Monday, Turkey and Syria were hit by the strongest earthquake in nearly a century, which destroyed houses and sent shocks as far away as Greenland.

In an area where millions of people have left the civil war in Syria and other crises, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck early in the morning and was followed by a little lesser one hours later completely destroyed large portions of the Turkish cities.

Rescuers peeled back debris with heavy machinery and their bare hands in search of survivors, some of whom they could hear pleading for assistance from beneath the debris.

According to the most recent statistics, Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks claimed the lives of 3,549 people in Turkey and 1,602 people in government- and rebel-controlled areas of Syria.

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