Turkey earthquake: was Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu really found alive?

Was Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu really found alive under rubble from the earthquake that killed more than 11,200 people in Turkey and Syria?

The Ghana Football Association and Ghana’s ambassador to Turkey said they found the player on Tuesday, the day after the first 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit.

But now is the time for uncertainty. Hatayspor not only say they don’t have any information about their player’s condition, but they also don’t know where he is.

“When we received the news that he had been taken to Dörtyol hospital, we went to see, but he was not there,” commented the club’s medical officer, as quoted by Hürriyet.

“We have no news,” confirmed coach and former goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, also worried about his sporting director Taner Savut, also untraceable. “The news I have is not good, he has not been found under the rubble again,” Demirel said in an audio message to AFP.

Nana Sechere, Christian Atsu’s agent, also shares this caution. After relaying reports that the player had been found, he too admitted to being unclear: “We have yet to determine his whereabouts. As you can imagine, this continues to be a terrible time for his family and we are doing everything we can to find Christian.”