Ex-Chelsea star Christian Atsu’s agent agonizes over updates while lines are down and hospitals are full of earthquake victims

CHRISITAN Atsu’s agent is desperate for news about the ex-Chelsea star after he was rescued from a collapsed building in Turkey.

The 31-year-old father was buried under piles of rubble for more than 24 hours after two powerful earthquakes struck the country, killing more than 7,200 people.

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Former Newcastle defender Atsu was reported to be on the ninth floor of a block of flats in Hatay when a 7.8 magnitude tremor struck the town at 4am local time on Monday.

Several of his Hatayspor team-mates were rescued from their homes in dramatic fashion, but Atsu and sporting director Taner Savut remained missing when a second quake struck just before 1:30pm.

But on Tuesday, club vice-president Mustafa Ozat confirmed Atsu was pulled alive from the rubble.

However, his agent Nana Sechere said they now have an excruciating wait for updates as the city lies in shambles with very little communication.

He told Ghanaian radio station Happy FM: “Just to give you an idea, Hatay is a very small town and hardly anyone speaks English.

“Right now the whole city is devastated, it’s in a state of emergency.

“It means hospitals will be inundated with people, injured and dying.

“Even if Atsu is in the hospital, there is no way to communicate with Atsu.

“Also, all the phone lines are dead, so few people can contact these club members.”

Ghanaian Ass Atsu is believed to have been found by rescuers who heard his voice in the rubble.

Hatayspor spokesman Mustafa Ozat previously said: “Christian Atsu was taken out with injuries.

“Unfortunately, our sporting director Taner Savut is still under the rubble.”

Atsu, who has three children with his wife Marie-Claire, plays for Hatayspor, who he joined last summer.

Atsu joined Chelsea from Porto in 2013 for £3.5m but has not made a single appearance for the Premier League giants.

Atsu took out loans from Vitesse, Everton, Bournemouth, Malaga and Newcastle.

And the Magpies made his contract permanent in 2017 after Atsu played a key role in their promotion from the Championship.

The ace eventually made 86 appearances for Newcastle before joining Al-Raed in 2021.

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Atsu joined Hatayspor last summer and has scored one goal in four games.

It comes as three Britons are among the 20,000 feared dead after catastrophic earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria.

A massive 7.8 magnitude shock – one of the largest in 100 years – was followed Monday hours later by another massive 7.5 magnitude tremor.

Then, on Tuesday, another 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck.

Horror pictures from Turkey show the devastation after the collapse of high-rise buildings, in which people were crushed and trapped.

A baby born under the rubble of the earthquake in Syria was rescued just minutes after arriving in the world.

The tot was rescued after her brave mother gave birth to the little girl under the weight of a destroyed building.

The pregnant woman is believed to have been trapped under rubble for over a day in the northeastern town of Jenderes.

Sadly, she reportedly died shortly after giving birth, surrounded by the devastation of Turkey’s terrible earthquakes.

It comes as the World Health Organization has warned the death toll could rise to more than 20,000 as rescuers find more victims in the rubble.

So far, more than 7,200 people have been confirmed dead.

According to Turkish authorities, 5,434 people were killed, while in Syria at least 1,832 died in government- and opposition-controlled areas.

More than 24,400 rescue workers are helping to search for survivors in the rubble of the destroyed cities.

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