Earthquake: Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu found alive in rubble in Turkey

Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu, a former Chelsea and Newcastle player, has been found alive in the rubble of the earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people in Turkey and Syria, Ghana’s ambassador to Turkey said on Tuesday. The 31-year-old joined Turkish club Hatayspor in September, based in the province of Hatay (south), near the epicenter of the violent earthquake that hit Turkey on Monday. “I have good news. I have just be informed by the president of the Ghanaian association that Christian Atsu has been found in Hatay,” Ambassador Francisca Ashietey-Odunton told Ghanaian radio Asaase. The Ghana Football Federation has also confirmed that the player has been found alive: “Christian Atsu was successfully rescued from the rubble of the collapsed building and is currently receiving treatment,” she wrote on Twitter. The quake, followed by powerful aftershocks, killed more than 5,000 people in Turkey and Syria, making also thousands of injured and homeless by freezing cold. This assessment is still provisional.