Argentine Footballer Loses Wife, 2 Children In Venezuela Earthquake 

The wife and two children of Argentine footballer Lucas Trejo were confirmed dead following the devastating twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela last week.

Trejo, who plays for Venezuelan second-division side Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira, had spent three days searching through the rubble for his wife, Yanina, and their children, Aaron and Ainhoa, before rescue workers recovered their bodies.

In a heartfelt statement shared on Instagram on Sunday, the club expressed its condolences over the tragedy.

“Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira deeply mourns the irreparable loss of our player’s wife and children,” the club wrote, alongside a family photograph, adding, “Lucas, you are not alone. Your family at Marítimo La Guaira is with you.”

The 38-year-old footballer was attending a training camp in Caracas when the powerful 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes struck on Wednesday evening. He rushed back to his home in La Guaira, the state worst affected by the disaster, only to find his apartment building reduced to rubble.

Speaking to CNN, Trejo’s brother-in-law, Ricardo Ardiles, described the heartbreaking scene.

“He found absolutely nothing of what the building itself had been,” Ardiles said.

The twin earthquakes, described by the United States Geological Survey as a rare “doublet” because the two major tremors occurred just 39 seconds apart, have claimed nearly 1,500 lives, with tens of thousands of people still unaccounted for, according to Venezuelan authorities.

The tragedy has also dealt a heavy blow to the country’s football community.

Among the victims was 18-year-old Yimvert Berroteran, a rising football talent who recently represented Venezuela at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Doha and later featured for the country’s U-20 national team. His death was confirmed by the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) and the national team on Friday.

Young footballers Víctor Palacios and Razan Sijaa also lost their lives in the disaster, according to the FVF and their respective clubs.

In another heartbreaking incident, the partner of footballer Héctor Bello died while shielding their toddler during the quake. Bello paid tribute to her in an emotional social media post on Saturday.

“I’ll make sure to remind our baby girl how wonderful you were and how much you loved her,” he wrote.

The disaster has also claimed the lives of tourists and foreign nationals, including eight Chinese citizens, according to Chinese state media.

AFP