For more than three days, rescue workers searched through the rubble, and now there is sad certainty: The wife and two children of Argentine soccer professional Lucas Trejo (38) died in the earthquake disaster in Venezuela. Yanina Maranella, as well as seven-year-old Aarón and five-year-old Ainhoa, were recovered dead according to consistent media reports.
The club Deportivo La Guaira offered condolences to the player on Sunday in a statement on Instagram. They share the player's pain over the "tragic death" of his partner and his children, it said. Former soccer player Edson Tortolero (54), who had been participating in the search for survivors since the disaster, also spoke out in his Instagram story. The bodies of the relatives had been found, he wrote, asking that the family be shown the utmost respect.
Desde el #DLG nos unimos al duelo que embarga al jugador Lucas Trejo, por el sensible fallecimiento de su esposa, Yanina Maranella y de sus hijos, Aarón y Ainhoa Trejo. 🇻🇪
— Deportivo La Guaira 🔱 (@DvoLaGuaira) June 28, 2026
Paz a sus almas y consuelo para Lucas y todos sus allegados. 🖤#SiempreNaranja pic.twitter.com/CaRVq4cyhV
When the earth shook twice within seconds on June 24, Trejo was not at home. The defender was with his club Maritimo La Guaira in the capital Caracas, where a cup match was scheduled for the following day. But his family was in the Cumanagoto residential complex in Playa Grande, a coastal town about twelve kilometers north of Caracas. The building collapsed completely.
Another soccer player also mourns
Trejo is not the only soccer player who must cope with a heavy loss. Héctor Bello (28) also lost his wife Andrea in the disaster. She died while protecting their one-year-old daughter Alana from the falling debris. In a moving message on Instagram, Bello honored her as a "courageous woman" who gave her life for the child. Numerous other youth soccer players died in the disaster.
At least 1,450 dead after two major earthquakes
The country in the north of South America was shaken on the evening of June 24 by two severe tremors measuring 7.5 and 7.2, which occurred less than a minute apart. Countless buildings collapsed, and streets and the airport in Caracas were also damaged. The official death toll was put at 1,450 by the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, with approximately 3,200 people reported injured. Tens of thousands of people are still considered missing.
Even five days after the disaster, the search for survivors continues. Around 30,000 Venezuelan emergency personnel and approximately 2,700 rescue experts from 24 countries are deployed. Many more deaths are expected.
