Turkey earthquake: Ex-Chelsea forward Atsu missing, could be 'trapped' in rubble

Former Chelsea and Newcastle forward Christian Atsu is missing and believed to be trapped under rubble following the powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and left more than 2500 people deadThe Ghana international who plays for Turkish club Hatayspor is thought to be in a building that was destroyed Hatayspor spokesman Mustafa Oumlzat said according to Turkish mediaOumlzat said club director Taner Savut was also believed to be in a building that collapsed and club officials couldnt contact both men They were likely trapped Oumlzat saidAt least two other Hatayspor players had to be pulled out of rubble but were now safe Oumlzat said Atsu and Savut were the only two Hatayspor players or officials still unaccounted for he addedAlso Read As earthquake wreaks havoc across Turkey amp Syria a timeline of major deadly earthquakes in the past two decadesThe 31yearold Atsu joined Hatayspor which is based in the southern city of Antakya last year after a spell playing in Saudi ArabiaThe 78 magnitude earthquake rocked large parts of Turkey and neighboring Syria in the predawn hours of MondayThe quake was centered in Turkeys southeastern province of Kahramanmaras and was felt as far away as Cairo in Egypt Hours later a second 75 magnitude jolt which was possibly an aftershock struck more than 100 kilometers 60 miles away from the epicenter of the earthquake and caused more destructionTurkish authorities said more than 3700 buildings were destroyed The death toll is expected to riseGhana President Nana AkufoAddo offered condolences to the people of Turkey on his official Facebook account and added iquestWe pray that our fellow Ghanaian Christian Atsu is found safe and soundAlso Read As death toll crosses 2000 here is what to know about the big quake that hit Turkey amp SyriaGhana Football Association spokesman Henry AsanteTwum wrote in an email to The Associated Press that they had no news of Atsu and Ghanas international relations department was seeking information from Turkish authoritiesIbrahim Kwarteng a friend of Atsu said he had tried calling Atsu but couldnt reach himWe are only praying that he will be found Kwarteng saidKwarteng runs a foundation in Ghana that helps former prisoners convicted of petty crimes to be reintegrated into society after their release from jail He said Atsu was the single largest donor to the foundationNewcastle said on its official Twitter account it was praying for some positive newsiquest regarding AtsuThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever