Former Vitesse player Christian Atsu was pulled alive from under the rubble on Tuesday after the earthquakes in Turkey. The 31-year-old Ghanaian was buried on Monday in Hatay, one of the affected cities. He is now in hospital with injuries, the Ghana Football Association confirms after reports from Turkish media.
Portuguese media reported on Monday evening that Atsu had been pulled out alive from under the rubble. That news was not confirmed at the time. On Tuesday morning, Turkish media quoted Hatayspor spokesman Mustafa Özat, who was at Radio Goal had said that Atsu was found alive and taken to the hospital.
Also the Turkish news agency DHA then came with the news, which has since been confirmed by the Ghana Football Association. “Christian has been successfully pulled out from under the rubble of a collapsed building. He is currently undergoing treatment. Let’s continue to pray for Christian.” It is unknown what injuries Atsu has and how serious they are.
Since Monday afternoon, there have been great concerns about Atsu, who has been playing for Süper Lig club Hatayspor since September last year. His teammates Kerim Alici, Burak Öksüz and Bertug Yildirim were pulled out alive from under the rubble. Only Hatayspor director Taner Savut would not have been found yet.
Hatay is located in southern Turkey, not far from the border with Syria, where the earthquake’s epicenter was. The death toll in Turkey and Syria has now risen to more than 5,000.
Atsu played for Vitesse in the 2013/2014 season
Atsu has been playing for Hatayspor since September last year, for which he scored the winning goal on Sunday against Kasimpasa in the last minute as a substitute (1-0). He was under contract with Chelsea for years, for which he never played a game.
The English top club rented Atsu to Vitesse in the 2013/2014 season. In the service of the team from Arnhem, the attacker came to 28 Eredivisie games, in which he scored 5 times.
Atsu has so far played sixty international matches for Ghana and scored ten goals. He was there with his country at the 2014 World Cup and was named the best player of the Africa Cup a year later.
Atsu also wore the shirts of Rio Ave, FC Porto, Everton, Bournemouth, Newcastle United and Málaga. He played by far the most matches for Newcastle.
