A series of devastating earthquakes have rocked Turkey with more than 2,500 confirmed dead. But the death toll is expected to rise as search and rescue workers look for people trapped under debris left by the natural disasters. Ghana football fans are just hoping that Christian Atsu is one of the lucky ones to make it out alive from the rubble.
According to the Turkish newspaper Star, the former Chelsea midfielder went missing after devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and northern Syria followed by numerous intense aftershocks. Atsu is a player for the Kahramanaras region-based Super Lig team Hatayspor, which is located in one of the worst-affected localities.
After the earthquake struck at 4 am local time, Atsu and a number of his teammates reportedly needed to be rescued by professionals at their residences.
Christian Atsu’s last Instagram post
Important win for the team
Happy to be on the scoresheet 🙏 @hatayspor pic.twitter.com/eMhlS0JGWr— Christian Atsu (@ChristianAtsu20) February 5, 2023
In his last Instagram post, before he went missing, Atsu celebrated a spectacular 97th-minute free kick to secure his side a 1-0 win over Kasimpasa in the Turkish Super Lig. The post went out on his social media just hours before Turkey was rocked by the massive earthquake and he went missing.
“Important win for the team. Happy to be on the scoresheet,” he wrote in the caption. The post included a series of photos from the game which showed Atsu in action on the field during the match.
He also tweeted about the win, where he included a video that showed Atsu being mobbed by his teammates.
Christian Atsu Twasam is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays for the Turkish Super Lig club Hatayspor and the Ghana national team. He was born on January 10, 1992. He is primarily used as a winger, but he has also been used as an attacking midfielder.
He began his career with Porto before moving on to Rio Ave for a season. Chelsea signed him for £3.5 million in 2013, and he has since been loaned to Vitesse Arnhem, Everton, AFC Bournemouth, and Málaga. After spending the 2016-17 season on loan at Newcastle United, he signed a permanent transfer deal in May 2017.
