Arabnews24.ca:Tuesday 7 February 2023 12:28 PM: Former Newcastle United footballer Christian Atsu has been rescued from rubble in Turkey after the building he was in collapsed.
Mustafa Özat, his club Hatayspor's vice president, told Turkish radio that he had been pulled from the wreckage in Hatay "with injuries".
Mr Özat also revealed that the football club's sporting director Taner Savut was still trapped in the debris.
Newcastle United said on Monday that they were "praying for some positive news" following reports their former player was among those trapped under rubble following the earthquake.
A number of Hatayspor players were reported by local media to be missing or under the debris after the quake, with Atsu among them.
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1:55The 31-year-old Ghanaian international played for Newcastle between 2016 and 2021.
Atsu was part of the Magpies team that won promotion back to the Premier League in 2017 after joining on loan from Chelsea, before completing a permanent move.
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The footballer - who played for his current team on Saturday, scoring deep into stoppage time to secure a 1-0 win over Kasimpasa - left St James' Park during the summer of 2021 after making 121 appearances for the club.
Meanwhile, more than 5,200 people have died so far in the disaster, with destruction wrought on parts of southeastern Turkey and northern Syria.
The rescue operation in the region is ongoing, with some locals forced to move rubble and rocks by hand.
