Volkan Demirel, Hatayspor coachTurkish TTF First Division team, denied this Wednesday the information of that their Ghanaian international player Christian Atsu has been rescued and said that he had not yet heard from the former malaguista or the club’s sports director, Taner Savut.
Speaking to the Hurriyet newspaper, Demirel said: “Please do not write that he has survived without being sure that he has survived. People have families, hopes, sorrows and pains that are increasing..
“There is still no news about Atsu and Taner Savut. I wouldn’t say this if they were in the hospital. We are going through very difficult times”, declared the coach.
Apparently, the confusion could have been due to some misidentification, as Hatayspor doctor Gurbey Kahveci told the press.
“When we heard the news that he had been taken to Dortyol Hospital we went looking for him, but he was not there. At the moment and unfortunately it seems that (sports director) Taner Savut and Christian Atsu have not been found,” the doctor said today.
The club announced Tuesday that the international soccer player had been rescued alive, but his situation was unknown.
The 31-year-old striker, who scored in his last match last Sunday, has also played for Porto FC, Chelsea and Newcastle, among other clubs.
The city of Hatay is about 180 kilometers south of the province where the epicenter of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that ravaged southeastern Turkey, so far causing more than 11,200 deaths in Turkey and Syria.
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