Ghana international and former Chelsea and Premier League player Christian Atsu has been confirmed dead, MySportDab reports.
News of his demise has been confirmed by his Turkish agent Uzun Mehmet, who had previously discountenance reports he was found alive in rubble in the Turkish earthquake.
Ekrem Konur, a renowned and top football journalist in Turkey has also taken to his Twitter handle to confirm shock news of the demise of the Ghana International
Christian Atsu was one of the thousands of victims who were buried alive by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake which struck the Southeastern part of Turkey and some parts of Syria.
Thousands of victims were buried alive following the earthquake, while others were confirmed dead at the spot following rescue operations.
Christian Atsu, who plied his trade with Hatayspor, was among the victims who happened to be trapped in the rubble of the earthquake.
According to reports, he was on the 9th floor of one of the giant buildings that was leveled by the earthquake, including some of his Hatayspor teammates.
Following rescue operations, a staff and three of his teammates were reportedly rescued alive from the rubble while Christian Atsu was yet to be found.
However, reports later emerged Christian Atsu has been found and has been taken to the hospital with minor injuries to his foot.
His Turkish agent Uzun Mehmet later came out to debunk the erroneous report, saying Atsu is yet to be found and is still missing after the earthquake.
Rescue operations were intensified with the hope of rescuing the Ghana international alive from the rubble like other fortunate victims.
However, a shocking report reaching us from Ekrem Konur has confirmed Christian Atsu has been found dead in the rubble.
His Turkish agent Uzun Mehmet has also confirmed the terrible news of Christian Atsu’s demise.
Christian Atsu joined Chelsea in 2013 and failed to make a single appearance for the club.
He was sent on loan spells to different clubs including Newcastle United, where his loan spell was made permanent.
In 2021, he joined Al-Raed and spent a season with the club before moving to Hatayspor in 2022 in Turkey, where he was trapped in the earthquake.
Christian Atsu died at the age of 22.
