Like many Ghanaians, former Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan has been left in shock after news from Turkey revealed that Christian Atsu is yet to be found after earthquake hit parts of that country on Monday morning.

Atsu signed a one-year deal with Hatayspor in Turkey on September 6, 2022.

The Black Stars forward and the director of his club Taner Savut are among thousands of people left under the rubble of Monday morning’s devastating earthquake in that country.

The news of the unfortunate incident shook many who took to social media to pray for Atsu and the residents of Turkey.

Among the people praying is Asamaoh Gyan who has on numerous occasions played with Atsu on the international space.

“OH GOD. Plsssssssss💔🙆🏿‍♀️🙏🏿,” Asamoah Gyan wrote on his social media pages. Attached to his post was a picture of Atsu at his club training.

OH GOD. Plsssssssss💔🙆🏿‍♀️🙏🏿 pic.twitter.com/4MqhhGP9Gn

— ASAMOAH GYAN (@ASAMOAH_GYAN3) February 6, 2023

A few hours prior to the incident, Christian Atsu had updated his fans about helping his team win their match. "Happy to be on n the scoresheet," he wrote.

Important win for the team
Happy to be on the scoresheet 🙏 @hatayspor pic.twitter.com/eMhlS0JGWr

— Christian Atsu (@ChristianAtsu20) February 5, 2023

Meanwhile, Asamoah Gyan is not the only celebrity offering prayers for Christian Atsu.

Gospel musician Sonnie Badu wrote, “God please deliver him and all the others from evil ..  #mercyOnChristianAtsu.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by DR.SONNIE BADU D.D D.Mus Ph.D. (@sonniebaduuk)

Actress Lydia Forson who is seemingly hopeful like many others wrote, “Praying for Christian Atsu. I believe he will be found soon. 🙏🏾. Alive !!! 🙏🏾.”

Alive !!! 🙏🏾

— miss forson (@lydiaforson) February 6, 2023

“Prayer up 4 Christian Atsu 🙏🙏🙏,” rapper Guru shared on his Twitter page.

Prayer up 4 Christian Atsu 🙏🙏🙏

— GURU NKZ (@gurunkz) February 6, 2023

Radio and TV show host Abeiku Santana also prayed writing “God have mercy on Christian Atsu 🙏🏾 and Turkey.”

God have mercy on Christian Atsu 🙏🏾 and Turkey 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/PP4NtYPIXa

— AbeikuSantana (@AbeikuSantana) February 6, 2023

Background

A powerful earthquake struck south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, killing more than 2,000 people as they slept and trapping many others in the early hours of Monday.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) near the city of Gaziantep.

Hours later, a second quake, which had a magnitude of 7.5, hit the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province.

The death toll in Turkey from this morning's earthquake has risen again to 1,498, according to the country's disaster management agency.

The combined death toll from the initial quake in Turkey and Syria now stands at more than 2,300 after 810 people were confirmed dead in Syria, the AFP news agency reports.