Argentine footballer Lucas Trejo has lost his wife and two children after powerful twin earthquakes devastated parts of Venezuela, his club confirmed on Sunday.
Trejo, who plays for Venezuelan second-division side Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira, spent three days searching through the rubble of his collapsed apartment building before rescue workers recovered the bodies of his wife, Yanina, and their children, Aaron and Ainhoa.
“Club Sport Maritimo La Guaira deeply mourns the irreparable loss of our player’s wife and children,” the club said in a post on Instagram alongside a family photograph.
The 38-year-old defender was attending a team training camp in Caracas when the earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, struck on Wednesday evening.
He immediately returned to his home in La Guaira, the state worst affected by the disaster.
Trejo’s brother-in-law, Ricardo Ardiles, described the scene that greeted the footballer on his return.
“He found absolutely nothing of what the building itself had been,” Ardiles told CNN.
In a separate message of support, Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira assured the defender he would not face the tragedy alone.
“Lucas, you are not alone. Your family at Maritime La Guaira is with you,” the club said while sharing another photo of Trejo with his wife and children.
The disaster has claimed nearly 1,500 lives, while tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for, according to Venezuelan authorities.
The United States Geological Survey described the disaster as a rare “doublet,” with two major earthquakes striking just 39 seconds apart.
The tragedy has also shaken Venezuelan football.
The Venezuelan Football Federation confirmed that 18-year-old Yimvert Berroteran, who represented the country at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Doha a few months ago and recently featured for the U-20 national team, died in the earthquake.
Young footballers Víctor Palacios and Razan Sijaa also lost their lives, according to the federation and their respective clubs.
The partner of footballer Héctor Bello also died while shielding their toddler from falling debris.
Paying tribute to her, Bello wrote: “I’ll make sure to remind our baby girl how wonderful you were and how much you loved her.”
The earthquake also claimed the lives of tourists and foreign residents, including eight Chinese nationals, according to Chinese state media.
