Christian Atsu’s agent has confirmed the former Premier League winger is still missing, nine days on from the devastating earthquakes which hit Turkey and Syria.
Atsu, 31, played for current team Hatayspor the day before the 7.7 magnitude quake struck. The current death toll from both countries has now topped 37,000 - 31,974 of which have come from Turkey.
There has been confusion over Atsu's whereabouts after his club and the Ghana Football Federation claimed he had been found. However, his agent, Nana Sechere, has now confirmed that they have still been unable to locate the Ghanaian and said a lack of resources on the ground is slowing down rescue efforts.
Taking to Twitter, Sechere said: “It has been 9 days since the earthquake and we still have not located Christian. I am at the quake site in Hatay with Christian’s family. The scenes are unimaginable and our hearts are broken for all the people affected.
“During my time here we have been able to locate Christian Atsu’s exact room location, and we have found two pairs of his shoes.
“Yesterday we received confirmation that thermal imagery was showing signs of up to 5 lives, however, I am told that the only real confirmation of life is through sight, smell and sound, and unfortunately we were not able locate Christian.
“This is a difficult situation and we are extremely grateful to all the Turkish and foreign rescue teams, local civilians and volunteers for their efforts and response in rescuing survivors. However, we urgently need more resources, including a translator, on the ground.
“Things are moving incredibly slow and as a result of that many rescues are being delayed, and lives are being lost due to the lack of resources available to the workers.”
Sechere added: “It is unfortunate that the club is not on the ground with us, side by side, in the search for Christian.
“Their position and influence, accompanied with their local knowledge would be extremely helpful. We implore the President of the club and mayor of Hatay, Lütfü Savaş to provide additional resources to speed up the rescue efforts as a priority.”
In Kahramanmaras, survivors are still being rescued from the rubble, although Reuters report that authorities have suggested that the rescue phase will soon be coming to a close. Instead, resources will be dedicated to helping survivors of the disaster, with thousands left without food and shelter for more than a week.
Atsu made 121 appearances for Newcastle United between 2016 and 2021 and also spent a season playing at Bournemouth. Last week, Schere told the Mirror about the winger’s movements before the quake struck.
“The last I heard from him was at midnight on Sunday,” he explained. “Christian and his team-mates were playing poker until 3:30am at a friend's apartment.
“The journey back to his apartment was around half an hour. He returned at 4am and the earthquake started around 20 minutes later. I didn’t know anything until I received a call from a club official at 5am asking if I’d heard from Christian. He told me Christian’s building had been completely destroyed and that they couldn’t get hold of him.
“I was hoping he was awake and that the earthquake hadn’t happened while he was sleeping. He was in an 11-storey building and he was on the ninth floor. The club officials were trying to help me find him but it was so hard because, understandably, they were trying to find their own friends and families as well.”
