Ghana star Christian Atsu has been pulled alive and sound from the wreckage after spending 26 hours under the rubble following Monday dawn's devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey.

Hatayspor's Vice President, Mustapha Ozat, has confirmed this in an interview, indicating that the club's sporting director is still unaccounted for.

“Christian Atsu was removed with injuries. Unfortunately, our sporting director Taner Savut is still under the rubble."

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has also confirmed receiving the news of the 31-year-old's recovery and asked for continuous prayers for the former Chelsea winger.

"We've received some positive news that Christian Atsu has been successfully rescued from the rubble of the collapsed building and is receiving treatment," the GFA said in a social media statement.

"Let’s continue to pray for Christian."

Turkish reporter, Yagiz Sabuncuoglu told Joy Sports the winger's health is currently being monitored.

"It's good news but we're following his condition because, when someone is rescued from under rubble, it means he hasn't eaten or drank anything.

"So the person's condition is very important after the rescue. That's why we're following up with the hospital."

Christian Atsu signed a one-year deal with the Turkish Super Lig side, Hatayspor, in September 2022 and only scored his first goal on Sunday against Kasimpasa.

Background

A powerful earthquake has struck south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, killing more than 5,000 people as they slept and trapping many others.

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.

So far, more than 3,500 people have died in Turkey and 1,600 in Syria.