FORMER Newcastle United winger Christian Atsu is reportedly trapped under rubble after today’s tragic earthquake in Turkey.

Turkish media outlet, Star, has claimed that a search-and-rescue operation is currently underway to try to locate the Ghanaian, who joined Turkish Super Lig club Hatayspor last summer.

Along with a number of his team-mates, Atsu was reportedly caught up in the 7.8 magnitude quake that struck Turkey this morning.

Several members of the Hatayspor team and staff have been rescued by specialists, but it is claimed that Atsu and Hatayspor sporting director, Taner Savrut, remaining missing and unaccounted for.

Hatyaspor are based in Kahramanmaras, which was close to the epicentre of today’s earthquake, which occurred at around 4am this morning and is believed to have resulted in the death of more than 1,000 people.

Atsu, who scored deep into stoppage time yesterday to secure a 1-0 win over Kasimpasa, spent four years with Newcastle between 2017 and 2021, moving to Tyneside in a £6.2m move from Chelsea, and was part of the Magpies side that won promotion from the Championship under Rafael Benitez.