SouthernWorldwide.com – The search for the family of Argentine soccer player Lucas Trejo concluded this weekend, with rescue teams locating the bodies of his wife and two children. They were found in the debris of an apartment building that collapsed during twin earthquakes on Wednesday.
Trejo, a 38-year-old center back for Venezuelan club Sport Maritimo de La Guaira, was with his team in Caracas when the powerful earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude, struck Venezuela’s northern coast.
Upon hearing that his family’s apartment building in Playa Grande, La Guaira, had collapsed, Trejo immediately went to the disaster zone. He joined the efforts to find his loved ones.
“Our building in Playa Grande collapsed. I don’t know anything about my family,” Trejo expressed on Instagram in the early stages of the search. “Please pray for them and share this message in case someone saw them. I want to believe they weren’t there.”
Trejo’s father and brother traveled from Argentina to provide support. They joined firefighters, military personnel, and volunteers who were meticulously searching through the wreckage.
The extensive search operations ended when rescuers successfully recovered the bodies of Trejo’s wife, Yanina Maranella, and their two children, Aaron and Ainhoa.
This devastating loss has led to a significant outpouring of support from the wider South American soccer community.
Fellow Argentine footballer Edson Tortolero, a close friend of Trejo, shared his profound grief over the family’s deaths.
“Today my heart breaks into a thousand pieces,” Tortolero wrote. “There are no words that can ease so much pain. I ask God to give Lucas strength to endure this unimaginable loss.”
Club Sport Maritimo de La Guaira officially confirmed the tragic news in a statement released on Sunday.
“We join the grief that overwhelms player Lucas Trejo for the passing of his wife, Yanina Maranella, and of his children, Aaron and Ainhoa Trejo,” the club stated. “Peace to their souls and comfort for Lucas and all his loved ones.”
Trejo’s family is among the many victims of the earthquakes that severely impacted Venezuela’s northern coastal regions. Emergency crews continue their work in the area as recovery efforts persist.
