Upwards of 2,000 people have been killed and thousands have been left injured after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria overnight, followed by strong aftershocks that included a 7.5 quake. CBS News has you covered with the latest developments.
English Premier League club Newcastle United and Ghana Football Association have voiced concern over the safety of Christian Atsu, who is feared to be trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building after the massive earthquake hit as families slept, according to the Associated Press.
The 31-year-old plays for Hatayspor and scored a late winning goal in a 1-0 win over Kasimpasa just hours before the earthquake hit.
Atsu played for Chelsea and Newcastle United in the past and has 65 caps for the Black Stars and multiple reports claim that a rescue operation is underway to extract him from the rubble.
The Magpies have posted on Twitter that they are “praying for some good newsWhile the Ghana Football Association released the following statement:
“We pray for Ghana international Christian Atsu and victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. We continue with our efforts to establish contact with officials of Hataspor and the Turkish Football Federation, considering the difficult situation. Our thoughts and prayers are with Christian Atsu and our brothers and sisters in Turkey and Syria. We remain hopeful for positive news.”
Atsu’s most recent social media update expressed his happiness at scoring the winning goal vs. Kasimpasa on Sunday, less than 24 hours before the earthquake.
“Important win for the team,” he wrote. “Happy to be on the scoresheet.”
Atsu’s team Hatayspor are based in Kahramanmaras which was hit hard by the earthquake and teammate Onur Ergun has responded via Instagram to correct reports that he is missing.
“Thank you very much to everyone who called and asked,” he wrote. “The news is not true. I am fine.”
Goalkeeper Ahmet Turkaslan of Yeni Malatyaspor is also believed to be missing with assistant coach Ilhan Var, according to Starsaying: “We have not found our goalkeeper Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan yet. There are no signs right now. His wife came out and described where he could be.”
CBS Sports will continue to update this news story with more developments as they materialize. For more news on the earthquake, follow CBS News.
Leave a Reply