Christian Atsu’s kids learned on radio ex-Prem star was missing after believing he’d been found, agonised partner says
CHRISTIAN Atsu’s kids learned their dad was still missing through the radio after believing he had been found, his heartbroken partner said.
The whereabouts of former Chelsea star Atsu, 31, remain unclear after he became trapped under rubble when the building he was in Turkey collapsed during a horror earthquake.
Atsu, who joined Hatayspor last summer, was on the ninth floor of an apartment block when a powerful 7.5 magnitude quake struck on Monday.
Hatayspor’s vice president reported on Tuesday he had been found alive in the wreckage and rushed to hospital in Kahramanmaras.
But the following day, Atsu’s agent Nana Sechere said his whereabouts were “unconfirmed”.
Atsu’s tearful partner Claire Rupio said their two sons and daughter found out he was still missing when they heard it on the radio.
She told BBC news from Newcastle: “It was quite shocking, as you can imagine, with the club confirming that he has been found alive and taken to hospital.
“And 11 hours later, my children had to hear it from the radio saying that they still don’t know where he is.
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“I know that his agent is there and they are trying their best to find him, so I trust that he will bring me the news that if he sees him or speaks to him.
“But it’s quite confusing, everything.”
Claire said the Ghana ace was living with his teammates in Turkey and she and their kids last spoke to him on Saturday morning
The mum added: “All I know is that currently his agent is in Turkey, and he’s trying to get to the place where it happened.
“They know where the building is, and they’re trying their best to rescue everybody.
“They know that there are people still under the rubble, but the problem is that they don’t have the equipment necessary to get them out.
“So he is still missing, and we don’t know where he is.”
The massive 7.8 magnitude quake stuck early on Monday with such force that it moved the country 10ft.
Two further earthquakes struck in the 24 hours after the initial tremor, leaving a trail of destruction stretching for hundreds of miles along Turkey’s border with Syria.
Video showed rescuers with searchlights sifting through the wreckage of Atsu’s apartment block on Monday night.
His voice was then heard in the rubble, along with that of Hatayspor’s Sporting Director Taner Savut, local media reported.
But despite reports he had been pulled from the wreckage, his whereabouts remain unclear.
Just hours before the first quake struck, Atsu scored deep into stoppage time on Saturday to secure a 1-0 win over Kasimpasa.
He tweeted: “Important win for the team. Happy to be on the scoresheet.”
The death toll has now surpassed the grim milestone of 22,000.
Turkey’s disaster-management agency said more than 19,300 people had been confirmed killed in the disaster so far in Turkey, with more than 77,000 injured.
More than 3,300 have been confirmed killed in Syria, bringing the total number of dead to more than 22,000.
Some 12,000 buildings in Turkey have either collapsed or sustained serious damage, according to Turkey’s minister of environment and urban planning, Murat Kurum.
Generous Sun readers have now raised £850,000 and Britain will send aid workers to help those whose lives have been shattered by Monday’s destructive 7.8 earthquake.
Atsu joined Chelsea from Porto for £3.5million in 2013 but didn’t make a single appearance for the Premier League giants.
He also took in loans at Vitesse, Everton, Bournemouth, Malaga and Newcastle.
And the Magpies made his deal permanent in 2017 after Atsu played a key role in their promotion from the Championship.
He then signed a one-year contract with Hatayspor last summer.
