Two professional soccer players have experienced heartbreaking personal losses in the wake of the devastating, back-to-back earthquakes that struck Venezuela.
The wife of Venezuelan player Héctor Bello sacrificed her own life to save their 1-year-old daughter, while Argentine player Lucas Trejo's wife and two children were found dead.
Both players belong to the Venezuelan club team Marítimo de La Guaira.
Bello, 28, plays as a defender for the team.
He announced on his Instagram account that his wife Andrea was killed on June 24 while shielding their toddler during the two powerful earthquakes, describing her heroic actions in the face of her own death.
Meanwhile, Trejo’s wife, Yanina Maranella, and children, Aarón and Ainhoa, were confirmed dead following a three-day search.
Trejo, 38, plays as a defender for the club team.
The magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck 100 miles west of the capital city of Caracas on June 24, followed by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake less than a minute later, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The second earthquake was the country’s strongest since 1900.
The twin tremors reduced hundreds of buildings to rubble and left 1,450 people dead, 3,150 injured, and more than 12,700 people displaced, according to the official tally as of Monday morning.
USGS has estimated that the earthquakes could claim more than 10,000 lives, placing them among the most devastating seismic disasters Latin America has seen in the last 100 years.
Rescue teams from all over the world have traveled to La Guaira, the hardest-hit state, to help with rescue and recovery efforts, including from the United. States.