Argentine footballer Lucas Trejo has lost his wife and two children after the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela and left a trail of devastation in La Guaira. The defender had been searching through the rubble for days before the effort ended in heartbreak.
Trejo plays for Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira, a Venezuelan second-division team, and was at a training camp in Caracas when the quakes hit. He rushed to his home in La Guaira, about 18 miles north of the capital, where his beachfront house had been reduced to wreckage.
A desperate search through the ruins
Trejo had spent much of the previous three days looking for signs of his wife, Yanina, and their children, Aarón and Ainhoa. His brother-in-law, Ricardo Ardiles, told CNN Español that Trejo was emotionally overwhelmed and that “absolutely nothing” was left of the family home.
Ardiles also said Trejo found a horrific scene and that the family’s hope was they had not been inside at the moment of collapse. Trejo later sifted through debris and appealed for help that would require heavy machinery, according to CNN Español.
The scale of the disaster
Authorities said more than 1,400 people died and thousands more were missing in Venezuela after the earthquakes. The US Geological Survey described the event as a rare “doublet,” with two major quakes striking just 39 seconds apart.
The impact has also reached Venezuelan football. Yimvert Berroteran died in the disaster, according to the Venezuelan national team and the Venezuelan Football Federation, and the quake also claimed the lives of Víctor Palacios and Razan Sijaa.
Héctor Bello said on social media that his partner died while protecting their toddler. In another post, he wrote, “I’ll make sure to remind our baby girl how wonderful you were and how much you loved her.”
Club and teammates rally around Trejo
Friends and teammates recorded a video asking for more machinery to help with the search. Robert Garcés of Metropolitanos F.C. said, “Right now we only have one machine, but it’s not enough.”
On Sunday, Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira said it “deeply mourns the irreparable loss” of Trejo’s family and shared a photo of the four together. The club added, “Lucas, you are not alone. Your family at Maritime La Guaira is with you.”
Tourists and foreign residents were also among the dead, including eight Chinese nationals, according to Chinese state media. As rescue efforts continue, the disaster has left one soccer player’s search ending in loss and an entire football community grieving alongside him.
Key figures mentioned in the disaster
| Name | Connection | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Lucas Trejo | Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira defender | Lost his wife and two children in the earthquakes |
| Yimvert Berroteran | Venezuelan footballer | Died in the disaster, according to the national team and FVF |
| Víctor Palacios and Razan Sijaa | Venezuelan players | Also killed in the quake, according to clubs and FVF |
The earthquakes hit one of Venezuela’s hardest-struck areas and left families, athletes, and neighbors searching through collapsed homes and shattered streets. For Trejo, the search through the rubble has now become part of a wider national tragedy.
