With you everything is easier and more beautiful always
On June 24, twin earthquakes of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude tore through Venezuela, leaving more than 1,430 dead and nearly 69,000 unaccounted for — a disaster that reduced entire lives to rubble in moments. Among those waiting in the silence that followed was Lucas Trejo, an Argentine footballer who spent 72 hours searching for his wife and two young children, only to learn that grief, not reunion, awaited him. His story, intimate and devastating, holds within it the shape of thousands of others still unfolding across a wounded country.
- Twin earthquakes struck Venezuela within hours of each other, unleashing destruction across the country and separating families mid-life, mid-sentence.
- For 72 hours, a father and footballer waited while his family lay buried — his father and brother flying in to search the rubble alongside rescue workers.
- The football community absorbed blow after blow: a 14-year-old academy player gone, a staff member gone, a wife who died shielding her infant daughter.
- Rescue operations continue across a landscape where 68,900 people remain missing, each number a family still suspended between hope and devastation.
- The death toll has reached at least 1,430, with over 2,300 injured and more than 3,000 displaced — and the full accounting is not yet finished.
Lucas Trejo was with his club in Caracas when Venezuela shook twice — first a 7.2, then a 7.5 — on June 24. The Argentine footballer, 38, had joined Marítimo de La Guaira earlier that year, and in the chaos that followed the earthquakes, he found himself separated from his wife Yanina Maranella and their two children, Aarón and Ainhoa.
He waited more than three days. His father and brother traveled to Venezuela to help search the wreckage. He posted a photo of his family to Instagram — a moment preserved just before everything changed. After 72 hours, rescue workers found them. All three were dead.
Fellow footballer Edson Tortolero broke the news carefully on Instagram, asking for respect for Trejo's grief. The club confirmed the loss and asked for privacy. A birthday message Trejo had written to Yanina earlier in the year — full of love and shared purpose — now reads as an unintended farewell.
The losses extended through the club. A 14-year-old academy player, Victor Palacios, was killed. Staff member Adriana Aranguren also died. Footballer Héctor Bello survived, but his wife Andrea did not — she died protecting their one-year-old daughter Alana.
Across Venezuela, the scale of the disaster continued to emerge: at least 1,430 dead, more than 2,300 injured, over 3,000 left homeless, and approximately 68,900 people still unaccounted for. Search-and-rescue operations press on, and for tens of thousands of families, the waiting is not yet over.
Lucas Trejo was in Caracas with his football club when the ground began to move. Two earthquakes, one measuring 7.2 magnitude and another 7.5, struck Venezuela on Wednesday, June 24, fracturing the country and the lives of thousands within it. Trejo, 38, an Argentine footballer who had joined Marítimo de La Guaira earlier that year, was separated from his wife Yanina Maranella and their two children, Aarón and Ainhoa, in the chaos that followed.
For more than three days, Trejo waited. His father and brother traveled to Venezuela to help search the rubble. The footballer posted a photo of himself with his family on Instagram Stories, a moment frozen before everything changed. Hours later, after 72 hours of searching through the wreckage, rescue workers found them. All three were dead.
Fellow footballer Edson Tortolero announced the discovery on Instagram, his words careful and heavy: the bodies had been recovered, and he asked for respect for Trejo's family during their grief. Marítimo de La Guaira released its own statement, confirming that after a 74-hour search, Trejo's wife and children had been found. The club asked for privacy for the player and his teammates.
Trejo had posted a birthday message to Yanina earlier in the year, words that now read like an unintended farewell. "Happy birthday my love," he had written. "May God richly bless your life and continue to fulfill the desires of your heart. It is a blessing for us as a family to have you and to move forward in the purpose we have together! With you everything is easier and more beautiful always."
The tragedy extended beyond Trejo's family. His club lost 14-year-old academy player Victor Palacios and staff member Adriana Aranguren. Footballer Héctor Bello survived, but his wife Andrea did not—she died shielding their one-year-old daughter Alana during the earthquakes. The football community, already reeling, absorbed these losses alongside a nation in crisis.
Across Venezuela, the scale of the disaster became clearer as rescue operations continued. At least 1,430 people had been killed. More than 2,300 were injured. Over 3,000 had lost their homes. And approximately 68,900 people remained unaccounted for, their families still searching through the aftermath, still hoping. The earthquakes had not finished their work—they had only begun it.
Citações Notáveis
We inform all the people of Venezuela and Argentina that the bodies of Lucas Trejo's family members have been found. We thank everyone for their support and ask for the utmost respect for his family during this time.— Edson Tortolero, fellow footballer, via Instagram
It is a blessing for us as a family to have you and to move forward in the purpose we have together! With you everything is easier and more beautiful always.— Lucas Trejo, in a birthday message to his wife posted earlier in the year
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
What was Trejo doing in Venezuela when this happened?
He was there with his club, Marítimo de La Guaira. He'd moved to Venezuela earlier that year to play professional football. He was in Caracas for a league match when the earthquakes hit.
And his family was with him?
His wife and two children were in the country, yes. But when the earthquakes struck, they became separated in the chaos. That's when the search began.
Seventy-two hours is a long time to wait.
It is. His father and brother came to Venezuela to help look for them. But after three days, rescue workers found them in the rubble. All three were dead.
Had he posted anything before they were found?
Yes. He shared a photo of himself with his wife and children on Instagram Stories just hours before they were discovered. Earlier in the year, he'd posted a birthday message to his wife—something about how everything was easier and more beautiful with her. Those words took on a different weight after.
Was his club affected beyond his family?
Deeply. They lost a 14-year-old academy player named Victor Palacios and a staff member, Adriana Aranguren. Another footballer, Héctor Bello, lost his wife when she shielded their one-year-old daughter during the quakes.
What's the broader picture in Venezuela right now?
Nearly 1,500 dead, over 2,300 injured, thousands homeless. But the worst part is the missing—almost 69,000 people unaccounted for. The search is still ongoing.