Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu is still missing after the deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria on Monday, killing more than 12,000 people.
Atsu currently plays for Hatayspor FC in Antakya, about 82 miles (130 kilometers) from the quake’s epicenter. On Tuesday, his club’s vice president and Ghana’s Football association stated the football player had been pulled out of the rubble and was recovering in a nearby hospital. Those comments were picked up by multiple outlets, including ESPNFC and CNN, but Hatayspor manager Volkan Demirel said that is not the case.
“There is no information on his whereabouts yet; we don't know where he is,” he said. “It's not the case that he was pulled out or taken anywhere else.”
Atsu, 31, was reportedly celebrating the team’s win against Kasimpasa late into the night on Sunday after he scored the last-minute goal to give his team the victory. CNN said - in the same report that said Atsu was found - that he had been playing poker until 3:30 a.m. local time and got home around 4 a.m. The quake struck at 4:17 a.m. that morning. Atsu, according to CNN, lives on the ninth floor of an eleven-story building.
Demirel said the search for Atsu is ongoing. Rescue efforts in general are ongoing in both Turkiye and Syria, but officials say that with the sub-freezing temperatures, the window to rescue more survivors is quickly closing.
Prior to joining Hatayspor last year, Atsu spent nearly a decade in the English Premier League, suiting up for Chelsea and Newcastle United.