Argentine soccer player’s wife, children found dead in Venezuela quake
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The 74-hour search to find the family of Argentinian football star Lucas Trejo ended this weekend as rescue teams pulled the bodies of his wife and two children from the rubble of the apartment building that collapsed in Wednesday’s double earthquake.
Trejo, 38, a defender for Venezuelan club Sport Maritimo de La Guaira, was in Caracas with his team when earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 hit the country’s northern coast.
Football player Lucas Trejo lost his wife and two children after the devastating earthquake in Venezuela. (Photo credit: FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images) ((Photo credit should be FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images))
After learning that his family’s apartment building in La Guaira, Playa Grande, had collapsed, he immediately went to the disaster area to join the search.
“Our building in Playa Grande collapsed. I don’t know anything about my family,” Trejo wrote on Instagram in the early hours of the search. “Please pray for them and share this message in case anyone sees them. I want to believe they are not there.”
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Trejo’s father and brother traveled from Argentina to help firefighters, military personnel and volunteers searching the rubble.
Twin earthquakes devastated Venezuela’s northern coast, causing widespread destruction as emergency crews continued rescue efforts. (Photo: Javier Campos/Image alliance via Getty Images) ((Photo by Javier Campos/image alliance via Getty Images))
The search ended after rescue teams found the bodies of Trejo’s wife, Yanina Maranella, and their children, Aaron and Ainhoa.
The tragedy sparked an outpouring of support from across the South American football community.
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Trejo’s close friend, Argentine football player Edson Tortolero, was saddened by the family’s death.
“Today my heart is breaking into a thousand pieces,” Tortolero wrote. “No words can ease this much pain. I pray that God gives Lucas the strength to endure this unimaginable loss.”
Club Sport Maritimo de La Guaira confirmed the deaths in a statement on Sunday.
The 74-hour search for defender Lucas Trejo ended in great sadness after rescuers found his family. (Photo: NORBERTO DUARTE / AFP) (Photo: NORBERTO DUARTE/AFP via Getty Images) ((Photo: NORBERTO DUARTE / AFP) (Photo: NORBERTO DUARTE/AFP via Getty Images))
In the statement made by the club, it was said: “We share the pain experienced by the player Lucas Trejo due to the death of his wife Yanina Maranella and their children Aaron and Ainhoa Trejo.” “Peace to their souls, comfort to Lucas and all his loved ones.”
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Trejo’s family is among the victims of the earthquakes that devastated parts of Venezuela’s northern coast. Emergency teams are in the area while rescue efforts continue.
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