Regardless of stories that he had been pulled from the rubble, a soccer star remained missing Thursday after the devastating earthquakes in Turkey, his agent mentioned.
Ghanaian winger Christian Atsu, who starred for Chelsea, Newcastle United and a number of other different groups within the English Premier League, had been reported protected by his agent Nana Sechere on Tuesday.
Sechere tweeted that officers at Atsu’s present membership Hatayspor, who play in Turkey’s prime Tremendous Lig, had advised him that Atsu had been “pulled out of the rubble alive.”
Later the Ghanaian Soccer Affiliation additionally tweeted that Atsu had “been efficiently rescued from the rubble of the collapsed constructing and is receiving remedy.”
Nonetheless on Thursday, Sechere tweeted that Atsu was “but to be discovered,” and he would don’t have any additional updates until he noticed Atsu or spoke with him.
This adopted an earlier tweet that mentioned Sechere was doing every thing he may to find Atsu, 31, who has starred 61 occasions for his nationwide workforce. “As you possibly can think about, this continues to be a devastating time for his household and we’re doing every thing we are able to to find Christian,” Sechere added.
His posts got here after Hatayspor director Volkan Demirel advised Reuters that it was “not the case” that Atsu, who joined his workforce final yr, “was pulled out or taken wherever else.”
Atsu final tweeted after scoring the profitable objective in his aspect’s 1-0 victory over Kasımpasa S.Ok. on Sunday.
Not less than 20,000 folks have died after the 2 large earthquakes rocked Turkey and neighboring Syria on Monday.
The primary temblor struck Turkey and neighboring Syria within the early hours, and registered at magnitude-7.8, a “main” earthquake on the official magnitude scale. Hours later, a second quake, registering at a magnitude-7.6, struck close by.
Greater than 17,130 folks have died in Turkey, the nation’s catastrophe administration company mentioned Thursday. In Syria, over 3,800 folks have been killed, in response to officers there.
Goalkeeper Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan, 28, who performed for Yeni Malatyaspor in Turkey’s second division, was among the many lifeless, the workforce confirmed Tuesday.
In freezing temperatures, rescuers in each international locations are going through a race in opposition to time to tug survivors from the rubble and a few in Turkey have criticized President Recep Tayip Erdogan’s authorities for what they name its gradual response.
Opposition leaders and a few social media customers additionally blasted his authorities’s resolution to dam entry to Twitter for about 12 hours, from Wednesday afternoon to early Thursday, as folks scrambled to seek out family members and share info on arriving support and the situation of these nonetheless trapped within the rubble.
Related Press and Reuters contributed.
