Venezuelan football mourns as earthquake kills at least 589, with two players' families among the victims
A powerful earthquake in Venezuela's La Guaira state has left at least 589 dead and 50,000 missing, and its impact on the country's football community is particularly cruel: an Under-20 international was found dead after three days under the rubble, and a second-division player's wife sacrificed herself to save their infant daughter.
The earthquake and its toll
A violent earthquake struck the coastal state of La Guaira, north of Caracas, leaving a provisional toll of at least 589 dead, 3,000 injured and 50,000 missing, according to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero. The tremor reduced entire buildings to rubble, with the Los Corales sector among the hardest-hit areas. Google's alert system gave residents a 30-second warning, likely saving many lives.
- Dead
- 589 people
- Injured
- 3000 people
- Missing
- 50000 people
A national youth talent lost
Yimvert Berroterán, an 18-year-old midfielder for Venezuela's Under-20 side (the Vinotinto) and Universidad Central de Venezuela, had been missing since the quake struck. His body was found on 26 June in Los Corales, the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) confirmed. "Venezuelan football says goodbye with immense pain to a boy who represented with pride the colours of the country," the FVF said in a statement, adding: "Your light will continue to live on in every Vinotinto heartbeat."
A mother's final act of protection
Héctor Enrique "Kike" Bello Caballero, a defender for second-division club Marítimo de La Guaira, lost his wife Andrea when their apartment building collapsed. Rescuers found her body, but underneath her, alive, was their one-year-old daughter Alana, Andrea had shielded the child with her own body. Bello poured out his grief on Instagram:
How will I explain to our daughter that you gave your life to save her? Andrea, how do I tell your daughter that you lost your life to save hers, and I wasn't there to do anything? Give me strength now because I can't take any more.
Teammate still searching for his family
Lucas Trejo, Bello's teammate and also a defender at Marítimo, was still desperately searching for his wife and children as of Thursday evening, hoping they might be in a hospital, unable to communicate. The building they lived in collapsed completely, leaving dozens of families unaccounted for.
A grief that has united the country
Bello's story, shared widely by local and Spanish media, drew thousands of messages of support from fans, colleagues and ordinary citizens. In another post, he promised:
The tragedy has become one of the most heart-rending symbols of the disaster.You will always be our favourite hero, mummy. I will make sure our little girl knows how wonderful you were and how much you loved her. I'll tell her the story of how you saved her, my love — how you gave your own life for our daughter, that you were a brave woman and, drawing your last breaths, you never left her.
