A Soccer Player’s Heartbreaking Search After Venezuela’s Deadly Earthquakes

Imagine this: you’re far from home practicing your favorite sport when the ground suddenly shakes violently. You rush back, desperate to find your family — only to discover your entire house has been flattened. This is exactly what happened to one soccer player in Venezuela.

What Happened in Venezuela?

Last week, two massive earthquakes hit Venezuela in a rare event called a "doublet" — two big quakes that struck just 39 seconds apart. These were the strongest earthquakes to hit the country in over 100 years.

The damage was devastating:

• More than 1,400 people have been confirmed dead
• Thousands more are still missing
• Entire buildings collapsed, turning homes into piles of rubble and dust

The Story of Lucas Trejo

Lucas Trejo is a 38-year-old soccer player from Argentina who plays for a team in Venezuela called Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira. When the earthquakes happened, he was far away in Caracas at a team training camp — about 18 miles from his home.

The moment he heard the news, he rushed to his beachfront home in La Guaira, one of the areas hit hardest by the quakes.

Three Days of Desperate Searching

Lucas spent three agonizing days:

• Digging through the rubble of his destroyed home
• Searching for any sign of his wife, Yanina, and their two children, Aarón and Ainhoa
• Pleading with rescuers to bring in heavy machinery to help
• His friends and teammates even made a public video asking for more equipment to speed up the search

His brother-in-law, Ricardo Ardiles, told CNN Español that Lucas was "emotionally overwhelmed" and that "absolutely nothing" was left of the family’s home. The family clung to hope that perhaps they weren’t inside when the building collapsed.

Important Note: The family’s hope was for the children and wife to have been somewhere else when disaster struck — but as we’ll see, things turned out differently.

The Heartbreaking Discovery

Unfortunately, the search came to a devastating end. On Sunday, Lucas Trejo’s family was found among the victims.

His soccer team shared a tearful message on social media:

"Lucas, you are not alone. Your family at Marítimo La Guaira is with you."

They posted a touching photo of the family together — Lucas with one arm around his wife and his hand resting gently on his daughter’s shoulder.

Other Lives Lost in the Disaster

Lucas Trejo’s family wasn’t the only one torn apart by these earthquakes. The tragedy deeply affected the soccer community in Venezuela:

Young Players Who Lost Their Lives

• Yimvert Berroterán, 18 — a rising star who played at the U-17 World Cup in Doha and the U-20 national team
• Víctor Palacios — a young player also killed in the quake
• Razan Sijaa — another young soccer player who lost their life

Families Shattered

• Héctor Bello, another player, lost his partner, who died while shielding their toddler from the collapse. Bello wrote a heartbreaking message promising to tell his daughter how much her mother loved her.

International Victims

The earthquakes didn’t just affect Venezuelan citizens. Many foreigners and tourists also perished:

• Eight Chinese nationals were confirmed dead (according to Chinese state media)
• At least nine Spanish nationals died, and over 100 Spanish citizens are still missing (Spain’s foreign ministry reported)

Important Note: Earthquakes don’t respect borders. This tragedy has touched families all around the world.

What Happens After the First 72 Hours?

The search for survivors continued grimly. By the time reports came out, rescuers had already passed the first 72 hours — a critical milestone in earthquake rescue operations.

Here’s why this matters:

• The first 72 hours are known as the golden window for finding survivors after an earthquake
• After this period, the chances of finding someone alive drop dramatically, especially without access to water
• Historically, the majority of live rescues are made within the first five to six days

Rescuers in La Guaira continued digging through collapsed homes, racing against time to find anyone still trapped beneath the ruins.

Summary

• Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela just 39 seconds apart, the strongest in over a century
• Argentine soccer player Lucas Trejo lost his wife Yanina and children Aarón and Ainhoa when their beachfront home in La Guaira was destroyed
• Over 1,400 people are confirmed dead and thousands remain missing
• Several young Venezuelan soccer players and their family members also perished
• Victims included foreign nationals from countries like China and Spain
• The tragedy shows how natural disasters can strike suddenly and destroy lives in moments — and how communities come together to support those in grief

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a "doublet" earthquake?
A doublet earthquake is when two major earthquakes occur almost back-to-back in the same area — in this case, just 39 seconds apart. This makes the damage much worse because the ground shakes twice in quick succession.

Q: Why are the first 72 hours so important after an earthquake?
The first 72 hours are called the golden window because that’s when trapped survivors have the best chance of being rescued alive. After that time, the chances of survival drop quickly, especially without water.

Q: Was Lucas Trejo’s the only soccer family affected?
No. Several Venezuelan soccer players lost their lives, including 18-year-old star Yimvert Berroterán, as well as young players Víctor Palacios and Razan Sijaa. Another player lost his partner.

Q: How many people were affected by these earthquakes?
Beyond the confirmed deaths, thousands of people are still missing, and foreign nationals from at least China and Spain were among the victims, showing the scale of this disaster.