Former Chelsea star Michael Essien has shared a heartfelt message to his former teammate Christian Atsu and said he is "still hoping and praying" that the Ghana international is alive.
The 31-year-old's whereabouts remain unknown following the devastating earthquake in southern Turkey and northern Syria during the early hours of Monday morning, after his current club Hatayspor revealed claims that he had been rescued were untrue.
More than 17,000 people have been killed and thousands more injured after a catastrophic 7.8-magnitude earthquake, while millions have been left homeless.
Tremors from the deadly quake, which lasted about a minute and could be Turkey's largest ever, were felt as far away as Egypt, Lebanon, and the island of Cyprus.
Hatayspor's club doctor, Gurbey Kahveci, denied Atsu had been found earlier this week, saying, "When we heard the news that "he was taken to Dortyol Hospital," we especially went and looked, but he was not there."
"At the moment we accept that Savut Taner [sporting director] and Christian Atsu were not found, unfortunately."
Atsu's agent Nana Sechere added on Wednesday: "Following yesterday's update from the club that Christian had been pulled out alive, we are yet to confirm Christian's whereabouts."
"As you can imagine, this continues to be a devastating time for his family, and we are doing everything we can to locate Christian."
And Essien, who was at Chelsea while Atsu was there and also played internationally with him for Ghana, put out a heartfelt message on his Instagram page to his former teammate.
Sharing a photo of the pair in Chelsea kit, Essien said: "I am still hoping and praying that my good friend Christian Atsu is still alive."
"My heart goes out to all the people of Turkey and Syria, especially the families of the victims of this tragedy."
Every life is important, and we hope the government of Turkey and people around the world will continue to provide support to save as many people as possible. @armsaroundthechild.'
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