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By Johnny Edward.
Super Eagles captain and Sivasspor winger, Ahmed Musa, says there is nothing for Nigerian fans to worry about regarding his safety amid the strong earthquake in that rocked south-eastern Turkey on Monday, The PUNCH reports.
On Monday, a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southeast Turkey, toppling buildings and leaving a trail of disaster in seven Turkish provinces and northern Syria, with tremors felt as far as Cairo, Egypt.
The high-magnitude tremor struck at 4.17am local time on Monday in south Eastern Turkey near the Syrian border, according to the US Geological Survey.
The epicentre of the quake was near the city of Gaziantep at a depth of 17.9km, impacting around seven provinces in Turkey and a large area in northern Syria.
When asked about his safety in Turkey, 2013 African Cup of Nations winner Musa told The PUNCH, “Thank you very much, I’m okay here (in Turkey).”
Musa also posted on his Twitter handle, “Pray for Turkey.” The tweet was accompanied with a heartbroken emoji.
Musa has made 44 league appearances in the Turkish topflight division playing for Fatih Karagümrük and Sivasspor since he arrived Turkey in 2021.
Also, the wellbeing of his compatriots Henry Onyekurn and David Babajide, who ply their trade with Adana Dermispor in Adana —one of the 10 cities affected by the initial quake, including Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir and Kilis was also confirmed to The PUNCH through Babajide’s agent Abiodun Tella.
“I just spoke with Babajide now (Monday evening) and he was company with Henry (Onyekuru); they are fine,” Tella said.
“They just completed a mild training session in a closed place and I pray they remain safe there as well because the reports from that area are very disturbing. Their league has been put on hold and schools shut to ensure lives are not lost.”
Former U-23 captain Okechukwu Azubuike and Ibrahim Olawoyin, who both play for Rizespor in the second tier division in Turkey, also allayed fears of the disastrous earthquake, which has seen a combined death toll in Turkey and Syria rise to at least 2,300 as at Monday evening.
“We thank God that we are alive here, the earthquake didn’t get here and we pray it won’t,” Azubuike told our correspondent.
Meanwhile, Ghanaians and Newcastle fans are anxiously awaiting news of their former player Christian Atsu following reports that he had been trapped in the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday.
The 31-year-old Ghana international winger, now playing for Turkish side Hatayspor, is reportedly missing along with the sporting director, Taner Savut, after club players and staff had been rescued from rubble, PA news reports according to multiple reports in Turkey.
Our correspondent also learnt that Atsu is not the only sportsman trapped in the shattering earthquake.
The wife of Hatayspor manager Volkan Demirel shared a tearful message after Turkish goalkeeper Eyup Turkaslan was reportedly among those trapped under rubble following the earthquake that has rocked Turkey and Syria.
Yeni Malatyaspor, where Turkaslan plays his football, shared a photo of the goalkeeper with the caption ‘Our prayers are with you’. “We wish God’s mercy on our citizens who lost their lives in the earthquake that occurred in Kahramanmaraş and felt in our city, and we wish a quick recovery to our injured citizens,” it read.
“Hatay is in a very bad way,” Demirel said in a video shared on social media. A number of her friends were believed to still be trapped under rubble, with fears that more footballers could also be affected by the disaster.
Also according to Haber Global, footballers from the Marasspor team may have been staying in a hotel destroyed in the aftermath of the quake. A men’s volleyball team and a girls’ U-14 volleyball team were also reportedly affected, with some survivors being pulled from the rubble.
A number of wrestlers are also believed to be trapped, according to Birgun. Taha Akgul, an Olympic champion wrestler from Turkey, has called for help amid suggestions between 30 and 40 of the athletes have been affected.
Turkey lies in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday’s disaster was the worst the country had seen since 1939, when the Erzincan earthquake in eastern Turkey killed nearly 33,000 people.
However in 1999 there was another deadly quake which killed more than 17,000 in Turkey’s north-west.
“I convey my best wishes to all our citizens who were affected by the earthquake that occurred in Kahramanmaraş and was felt in many parts of our country,” Erdogan said in a statement.
“All our relevant units are on alert under the coordination of AFAD (the disaster and emergency management presidency).
“Our search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the areas affected by the earthquake. Our Ministry of Interior and Health, AFAD, Governorships and all other institutions started their work rapidly.
“We also coordinate the works initiated after the earthquake. We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage, and we continue our work.”
Many thousands of people have been injured — with at least 5,385 people hurt in Turkey and 2,000 in Syria.
Many of the victims are in war-torn northern Syria, where millions of refugees live in camps on both sides of the Syria-Turkey border. There have been dozens of fatalities reported in rebel-held areas.
Thousands of buildings have collapsed, and several videos show the moment they fell, as onlookers ran for cover. Many buildings that were four or five storeys high are now flattened, roads have been destroyed and there are huge mountains of rubble as far as the eye can see.
Among the buildings destroyed was Gaziantep Castle, a historical landmark that had stood for more than 2,000 years.
And a shopping mall in the city of Diyarbakir collapsed, a BBC Turkish correspondent there reported.
Turkey’s energy infrastructure has been damaged, and videos have emerged showing large fires in southern Turkey. Social media users claimed they were caused by damage to the gas pipelines.