The 31-year-old joined Turkish club Hatayspor in September, based in the province of Hatay (south), near the epicenter of the violent earthquake that struck Turkey on Monday.

"I have good news. I have just been informed by the president of the Ghanaian association that Christian Atsu has been found in Hatay," Ambassador Francisca Ashietey-Odunton told Ghanaian radio Asaase.

The Football Federation of Ghana also confirmed that the player had been found alive: "Christian Atsu was successfully rescued from the rubble of the building which collapsed and is currently receiving treatment," she wrote on Twitter.

The earthquake, followed by powerful aftershocks, killed more than 5,000 people in Turkey and Syria, also leaving thousands injured and homeless in the freezing cold.

This assessment is still provisional.

© 2023 AFP