Soccer player’s family dies in Venezuela earthquakes

The wife and two young children of Argentine soccer player Lucas Trejo were killed after twin earthquakes leveled their home in Venezuela, his club said Sunday, as rescuers continued searching for survivors across the hardest-hit areas.

Trejo, 38, plays for Club Sport Marítimo de La Guaira, a second-division team in Venezuela. His club confirmed the deaths of his wife, Yanina, his son, Aarón, and his daughter, Ainhoa, after days of searching through the wreckage.

“Club Sport Maritimo La Guaira deeply mourns the irreparable loss of our player’s wife and children,” the team said in an Instagram post accompanied by a family photo. In another message, the club wrote: “Peace to their souls and comfort for Lucas and all his loved ones.”

The earthquakes struck Wednesday evening. NBC News reported that a magnitude 7.2 quake hit near the town of San Felipe shortly after 6 p.m., followed 39 seconds later by a stronger 7.5 quake near Yumare. La Guaira was among the areas hit hardest.

Trejo was away from home when the quakes struck. CBS News, citing CNN, reported that he was at a team training camp in Caracas and immediately returned to La Guaira. NBC News, citing Noticias Telemundo, reported that Trejo said he had been playing in a game far from home.

“I was playing at a game far from my home, I ran back to see if my family was good,” he told Noticias Telemundo, becoming emotional. “The building was destroyed.”

Before the deaths were confirmed, Trejo described searching desperately through the ruins. He told Noticias Telemundo he was “going through the rubble with my hands” because there was no digging equipment available. When one machine arrived, he said, it was too small to move the largest pieces of debris.

Trejo also searched hospitals after hearing rumors that a young child had been pulled alive from the building. He hoped it might be his son. “I don’t know where my family is, I’m looking for them but I don’t know,” he said.

His brother-in-law, Ricardo Ardiles, told CNN Español that Trejo returned to “a horrific scene.” Ardiles said, “He found absolutely nothing of what the building itself had been.”

Venezuelan authorities said Sunday that nearly 1,500 people had died, according to CBS News. NBC News reported that more than 1,400 people were killed and about 3,150 were injured. Tens of thousands remain unaccounted for.

Rescue efforts continued through the weekend. A U.S. search and rescue team, Virginia Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1, shared video of rescuers pulling a woman from the rubble of a collapsed building as neighbors cheered. A separate video shared by the U.S. State Department showed a 9-month-old baby being removed from the wreckage wrapped in blue fabric. The baby’s face was blurred, but the child could be heard crying.

The government of Caracas said Saturday that about 200 people had been rescued, while online databases listed about 51,000 people as missing, CBS News reported. Some Venezuelans said they had seen few state rescue teams in the hardest-hit areas, though Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said the government was carrying out a full response.

Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said Sunday that time was running out to reach people trapped beneath debris. Delcy Rodríguez said in a televised address that rescue operations would continue after 33 people were found over the weekend.

“We recovered people alive today,” she said. “Therefore, the rescue operations will not be suspended.”

In La Guaira, Diana Sandrano told CBS News she would keep searching for her missing brother “as long as it takes.”

“He deserves to live and have a future,” she said after a day of searching.