Christian Atsu survived nine-floor plunge after building ‘completely destroyed’ in Turkey earthquake

Christian Atsu is believed to have survived a plunge from the ninth floor of a building “completely destroyed” by the earthquake in Turkey.

The former Newcastle and Chelsea winger was pulled out of rubble alive on Tuesday after fears over his safety.

Atsu, who joined the Turkish club Hatayspor in September, has reportedly had been taken to hospital and is receiving treatment.

The 31-year-old had scored a winner late in stoppage time on Sunday to beat Kasimpasa and had been celebrating victory by playing poker with his teammates in the hours before two significant seismic events struck southern Turkey and northern Syria.

“The last I heard from him was at midnight on Sunday. Christian and his teammates were playing poker until 3.30am at a friend’s apartment,” Atsu’s agent, Nana Sechere, explained to the Daily Mirror.

“The journey back to his apartment was around half an hour. He returned at 4am and the earthquake started around 20 minutes later. I didn’t know anything until I received a call from a club official at 5am asking if I’d heard from Christian. He told me Christian’s building had been completely destroyed and that they couldn’t get hold of him.

“I was hoping he was awake and that the earthquake hadn’t happened while he was sleeping. He was in an 11-storey building and he was on the ninth floor. The club officials were trying to help me find him but it was so hard because, understandably, they were trying to find their own friends and families as well.

“There were lots of reports out of England and Ghana that Christian was safe but the first official confirmation I had was from the club at 6am on Tuesday morning.

“They told me that he was in hospital and that he is stable. He doesn’t have his phone and, like all of us, he can’t remember his numbers by heart, so I have to continue to wait to speak to him.”

Close to 9,000 people are reported to have now died in Monday’s natural disaster, with search and rescue teams warning that they are running out of time to find survivors.

Yeni Malatyaspor have confirmed the passing of their goalkeeper Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan in the earthquake, while Hatayspor’s sporting director Taner Savut is reported to still be missing.