Argentine soccer player loses wife, 2 children in Venezuela earthquakes
An Argentine football player playing for the Venezuelan second division team lost his wife and two children last week after the strongest earthquake to hit Venezuela in more than a century.
Lucas Trejo, who plays for Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira, He had spent most of the last three days combing through the rubble and looking for signs of his wife Yanina and their children Aaron and Ainhoa.
Trejo’s brother-in-law, Ricardo Ardiles, told CNN Spanish On Friday the footballer was “emotionally overwhelmed” and left with “absolutely nothing” left of the family’s beach house in La Guaira, one of the worst-hit areas.
More than 1,400 people have died in Venezuela and thousands more are missing, officials said Sunday.
Trejo, 38, was at a team training camp in Caracas when two earthquakes struck, CNN Español reported. He immediately rushed to his home in La Guaira, 18 miles north of the capital.
“He said what he found was a horrific sight. He found absolutely nothing of what the building was,” Ardiles said. Our hope is that they are not there.”
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Trejo examined the debris, searching the area for clues and calling for help, which required heavy machinery, according to CNN Español.
His friends and teammates had also created a video pleading for more machines.
“We only have one machine right now, but it’s not enough,” said Robert Garcés, who plays for Venezuela’s Metropolitanos FC team.
However, the searches ended sadly.
On Sunday, Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira said in a social media post that Trejo’s family was “deeply saddened by the irreparable loss” and shared a photo of the foursome together – Trejo with one hand on his daughter’s shoulder and the other around his wife.
“Lucas, you are not alone. Your family in Maritime La Guaira is with you,” it said.
U.S. Geological Survey’s disaster last week a rare “double” Two major earthquakes that occurred just 39 seconds apart caused the death and impact of many football players in the country.
Promising young talent Yimvert Berroteran was among the hundreds of people who died, the Venezuelan national team and the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) said on Friday.
The 18-year-old player played at the U-17 World Cup held in Doha a few months ago and recently for the U-20 national team.
According to FVF and related clubs, young players Víctor Palacios and Razan Sijaa also died in the earthquake.
Another player’s partner, Héctor Bello, died while protecting his young child, Bello said on social media on Saturday.
“I will make sure to remind our daughter how wonderful you are and how much you love her,” Bello wrote. in a post.
Chinese state media said on Sunday that tourists and foreign residents, including eight Chinese citizens, were among the dead.
Spain’s foreign ministry said at least nine Spanish citizens were dead and more than 100 were missing.
The search effort has now extended beyond the first 72 hours, the most critical time period to find survivors.
Historically, after this period, the chance of survival without a water source decreases rapidly. Some studies They say most live rescues occur within the first five or six days.
CNN’s Max Saltman, Max Feliu and Joyce Jiang contributed to this report.
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