Turkey Earthquake (Feb 6, 2023)

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    Christian Atsu Is Found Dead in Turkey After Earthquake

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    Mr. Atsu, a Ghanaian national who played for the Turkish club Hatayspor, had been among the thousands of people missing. He was 31.The body of Christian Atsu, a professional soccer player from Ghana whose career took him to England’s Premier League and the World Cup, has been recovered from the rubble in southern Turkey nearly two weeks after a powerful earthquake struck the country, his club and his agent said on Saturday. He was 31.“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce to all well wishers that sadly Christian Atsu’s body was recovered this morning,” Nana Sechere, Mr. Atsu’s agent, wrote on Twitter on Saturday. “My deepest condolences go to his family and loved ones.”Mr. Sechere said Mr. Atsu had been found in Hatay Province in southern Turkey, one of the hardest-hit areas in the earthquake.Mr. Atsu, who played for the Turkish club Hatayspor, had been among the thousands of people missing since Feb. 6, when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria. Just hours before the quake, he had scored his team’s winning goal in its match against Kasimpasa, a team from Istanbul.His club also confirmed the news and said he was being repatriated to Ghana.“We will not forget you, Atsu. Peace be upon you, beautiful person,” Hatayspor said in a statement on Twitter on Saturday.There had been conflicting accounts of Mr. Atsu’s whereabouts after the earthquake, and earlier statements that he had been rescued had initially raised hopes that he had survived the earthquake.Mr. Atsu, a member of Ghana’s World Cup team in 2014, had spent the bulk of his career with European clubs, and signed with Porto, Chelsea and Newcastle United. He joined Hatayspor last year.Condolences poured in on Saturday on social media, including from Newcastle United, the Premier League and FIFA, soccer’s world governing body. The Ghana Football Association said that weekend games would hold a moment of silence for Mr. Atsu.“Ghana football has lost one of its finest personnel and ambassadors, one who will be difficult to replace,” President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana said on Twitter.As the club desperately searched for Mr. Atsu after the earthquake, Volkan Demirel, Hatayspor’s manager, had pleaded for aid.“I thought the day of judgment had come. I immediately thought of my players,” Mr. Demirel told Hurriyet, a Turkish newspaper, about the moment the earthquake hit.“May God not cause such pain to anyone,” he added.More than 45,000 people have died in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, according to figures from the Turkish authorities and from the United Nations, and the death toll was expected to continue to rise. More

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      Christian Atsu Still Missing After Turkey Earthquake Despite Reports, Club Says

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      The whereabouts of Christian Atsu, a professional soccer player for the Turkish club Hatayspor, remained unknown on Wednesday, club officials said, despite their earlier statements that he had been rescued from the rubble of the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria and was receiving medical treatment.It was unclear whether Mr. Atsu, a Ghanaian national, was still trapped underneath the rubble in Hatay Province, Turkey, or whether he had been removed but could not be located in the region’s overwhelmed hospitals. Hatay was one of the hardest-hit areas and had one of the highest death tolls from the earthquake.Mustafa Ozat, the team’s vice president, said the information he had been given when he told a radio station on Tuesday that Mr. Atsu had been rescued was wrong.“I had received information that Christian Atsu was removed from the rubble. However, the information received at the moment is that Atsu and our director Taner Savut are under the rubble,” Mr. Ozat told the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet on Wednesday.Ghana’s ambassador to Turkey, Francisca Ashietey-Odunton, told the Ghanaian media outlet Joy Sports on Wednesday that the Turkish foreign ministry was still searching for Mr. Atsu in medical facilities, illustrating how difficult it has become to communicate or verify information amid the earthquake’s destruction.Ms. Ashietey-Odunton was in Ankara, the Turkish capital, and could not travel to Hatay herself because of road and airport closures, she said.Mr. Atsu, a member of Ghana’s World Cup team in 2014, has spent the bulk of his career with European clubs, including Porto, Chelsea and Newcastle United. He joined Hatayspor last year. In the hours before the earthquake hit, Mr. Atsu had scored a winning goal for Hatayspor in its match against a team from Istanbul. The fate of Hatayspor’s other players remains unclear, and its manager, Volkan Demirel, has made public pleas for aid.“I thought the day of judgment had come. I immediately thought of my players,” Mr. Demirel told Hurriyet about the moment the earthquake hit.“May God not cause such pain to anyone,” he added.Seda Ozturk contributed translation. More

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      Soccer Player Christian Atsu Is Rescued From Turkey Earthquake

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      Christian Atsu, a professional soccer player who once played in England’s Premier League, was rescued from under the rubble in the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, the vice president of his current team, Turkey’s Hatayspor, said on Tuesday.“Christian Atsu was removed, injured,” the team’s vice president, Mustafa Ozat, said on Radyo Gol, a Turkish radio station. “We are coming toward the end of the most dangerous hours.” He said the club’s sporting director, Taner Savut, was still trapped.Mr. Atsu had been among the thousands of people missing after an earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, causing thousands of people to become stuck under collapsed buildings. Just hours before the earthquake hit, Mr. Atsu scored his team’s winning goal in its match against Kasimpasa, a team from Istanbul.The fate of other players for Hatayspor, which is based in Hatay, Turkey, about 60 miles west of Aleppo, Syria, was not immediately clear. More than 5,100 people in Turkey and Syria have died in the quake, and that toll is expected to rise. Rescuers worked through the night to pull people from the rubble, but freezing temperatures and snow impeded some rescue efforts.Vice President Fuat Oktay of Turkey said on Tuesday that more than 8,000 people had been rescued from underneath the wreckage. Earthquake rescues typically occur in the first three days, an expert said.Through tears, Volkan Demirel, the manager of Hatayspor, on Tuesday appealed on Instagram for assistance for others who still remained under rubble.“Please help, help,” said Mr. Demirel, the former goalkeeper of Fenerbahce, an Istanbul team. “I want you to send all the help you can. Not only for Hatay, but for surrounding cities too.”Mr. Atsu, a member of Ghana’s World Cup team in 2014, has spent the bulk of his career with European clubs, including Porto, Chelsea and Newcastle United. He joined Hatayspor last year. More