Former Chelsea forward Atsu rescued after Turkey earthquake
London (AP/PTI): Former Chelsea and Newcastle forward Christian Atsu was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building following the deadly earthquake that struck Turkey, the Ghana Football Association said in a Twitter post Tuesday.
The Ghana international plays for Turkish club Hatayspor. A club spokesman on Monday told Turkish media that Atsu was thought to be in a building that was brought down by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks that struck southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria and has killed more than 5,000 people.
Özat said club director Taner Savut was also believed to be in a building that collapsed and club officials couldn’t contact both men. They were likely trapped, Özat said.
At least two other Hatayspor players had to be pulled out of rubble but were now safe, Özat said. Atsu and Savut were the only two Hatayspor players or officials still unaccounted for, he added.
The 31-year-old Atsu joined Hatayspor, which is based in the southern city of Antakya, last year after a spell playing in Saudi Arabia.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked large parts of Turkey and neighboring Syria in the pre-dawn hours of Monday.
The quake was centered in Turkey’s southeastern province of Kahramanmaras, and was felt as far away as Cairo in Egypt. Hours later, a second 7.5 magnitude jolt, which was possibly an aftershock, struck more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) away from the epicenter of the earthquake and caused more destruction.
Turkish authorities said more than 3,700 buildings were destroyed. The death toll is expected to rise.
Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo offered condolences to the people of Turkey on his official Facebook account and added: “We pray that our fellow Ghanaian, Christian Atsu, is found safe and sound.”
Ghana Football Association spokesman Henry Asante-Twum wrote in an email to The Associated Press that they had no news of Atsu and Ghana’s international relations department was seeking information from Turkish authorities.
Ibrahim Kwarteng, a friend of Atsu, said he had tried calling Atsu but couldn’t reach him.
“We are only praying that he will be found,” Kwarteng said.
Kwarteng runs a foundation in Ghana that helps former prisoners convicted of petty crimes to be reintegrated into society after their release from jail. He said Atsu was the single largest donor to the foundation.
Newcastle said on its official Twitter account it was “praying for some positive news” regarding Atsu.
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NEET aspirant found hanging in Kota, 9th suspected suicide this year
Kota, Mar 25 (PTI): A 17-year-old medical aspirant allegedly hanged himself from an iron rod in his hostel room in Kota’s Jawahar Nagar area on Tuesday, police said.
This is the ninth case of suspected suicide by a coaching student in Kota since January.
Harshraj Shankar, a native of Bihar’s Nalanda district, had been preparing for the medical entrance exam in a coaching institute here since April last year, they said.
After being informed by the hostel caretaker that this afternoon that the boy had bolted the door from inside and was not responding, a police team reached the spot, Jawahar Nagar SHO Ramlaxman.
The team broke open the room door and found the boy hanging to an iron rod, he added.
The ceiling fan in the hostel room was equipped with “anti-suicide devise”. So, the NEET aspirant arranged an iron rod to hang himself, the police said.
No suicide note was recovered from the spot, the SHO said, adding that the body has been shifted to the mortuary of a hospital and a post-mortem would be conducted after the arrival of his parents who have been informed.
A probe is underway.
This is the ninth student suicide this year that took place in the city famous for its being a coaching hub. Six coaching students -- five JEE, one NEET -- killed themselves in January alone.
Seventeen coaching students died by suicide in Kota in 2024. In 2023, the number stood at 26.
