Lucas Trejo, an Argentinian soccer player for a Venezuelan team, lost his wife and two children in last week’s earthquakes in Venezuelan.
Twin earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 hit Venezuela Wednesday and have killed nearly 1,500 people. La Guaira suffered the worst damage. Trejo, who plays defense for Club Sport Marítimo de La Guaira, and his family lived in an apartment there.
Trejo was at a team training camp in Caracas, which is about 30 minutes south of La Guaira, when the earthquakes struck. When he returned home to check on his family, he found his apartment complex completely destroyed.
“Our building in Playa Grande collapsed,” Trejo wrote on Instagram shortly after the search for his family began. “I don’t know anything about my family.
“Please pray for them and share this message in case someone saw them. I want to believe they weren’t there.”
Trejo’s Instagram bio declares “Jesus Christ is my king,” and references Exodus 34:10, which talks about God doing wonders for people to see.
Trejo’s brother and father traveled from Argentina to help him search through the rubble for his wife, Yanina Maranella, and their two children, Aaron and Ainhoa. Rescue crews searched alongside Trejo for 74 hours before all three of his family members were confirmed to have passed away.
Club Sport Marítimo de La Guaira offered its condolences to Trejo in a statement on Facebook.
“Directors, coaches, players, administrative, operational and administrative staff of the club we ask God for the eternal rest of the family of Lucas Trejo ,” the post reads. “We also continue to pray for the rescue of other victims of this catastrophe in La Guaira “
The team lost several youth league members in the earthquakes including Ricardo Veloz and Victor Palacios.
The Kansas City Royals offered condolences for those killed in the earthquakes in a statement and observed a moment of silence and prayer before its game against the Chicago White Sox Sunday. The team has several Venezuelan players including captain Salvador Perez and Maikel García.
“We are heartbroken for our Venezuelan friends and family following the earthquakes earlier today,” the statement reads. “We offer our support and our prayers to all who have been affected.
“We love, and we are with you.”
Kansas City is hosting the Argentinian national team in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is currently ongoing.
(Photo credit: Lucas Trejo via Instagram, @lucastrejo_lt)
