The wife and two children of Argentine footballer Lucas Trejo have been found dead in Venezuela following the catastrophic earthquakes that struck the country. Trejo's wife, Yanina Maranella, and their two young children, Aaron and Ainhoa Trejo, were killed when their apartment building collapsed in Playa Grande during the disaster.
Search ends in tragedy
Trejo had been desperately searching for his family after they were reported missing. Venezuelan football team Club Sport Marítimo de La Guaira, for which Trejo plays, confirmed the tragic news in a statement: "Club Sport Maritimo La Guaira deeply mourns the loss suffered by Lucas Trejo's family; we ask for respect for his relatives and teammates. After a 74-hour search, they were found deceased."
Around 1,500 people have been killed in the earthquakes that devastated Venezuela, with La Guaira, a region north of the capital, hit the hardest. At least 69,000 people have been reported missing since the back-to-back earthquakes on June 24.
Friends and colleagues pay tribute
Former Venezuela football player Edson Tortolero, a friend of Trejo, wrote on Instagram: "We inform all the people of Venezuela and Argentina that the bodies of Lucas Trejo's family members have been found lifeless. We thank everyone for the support and ask for the most sincere respect for his family at this time. WE PRAY FOR ETERNAL LIFE FOR THEM."
Trejo has not publicly addressed the deaths of his family, but he shared a photo of the four of them on his Instagram Stories without a caption. Argentinian media reported that Trejo's father and brother had flown to Venezuela to help him search for his missing family.
Other sports figures affected
Among those reported dead are Venezuelan footballer Yiimvert Berroterán, 18, and the wife of Venezuelan former Major League Baseball player Gorkys Hernandez, Daisy. Footballer Héctor Bello, a defender for second division side Marítimo de La Guaira, lost his wife Andrea when their building collapsed. Andrea died protecting their one-year-old daughter, using her own body to shield the baby.
