Double earthquake in Venezuela kills over 920; footballer's wife dies saving daughter from collapsing building

The double earthquake, which hit near Caracas shortly after 6 p.m. local time on 24 June, is the deadliest natural disaster to strike Venezuela in years. Rescue workers are still sifting through rubble, and authorities expect the death toll to rise. The provisional count, as of Friday, stands at 920 dead and nearly 3,000 injured, though one report cites 929 fatalities. Some 50,000 people are listed as missing.

A mother's ultimate sacrifice

The human cost of the catastrophe is captured in the story of Andrea Bello, the wife of Venezuelan second-division footballer Héctor Bello. According to the player's Instagram posts, Andrea was with their daughter Alana in her parents' home when the building collapsed. She threw herself over the child, protecting her from the falling debris. Rescuers later found Andrea's body under the rubble, a sacrifice that allowed the little girl to survive.

“I will tell her how you saved her, my love, how you gave your own life for our daughter, how you were a brave woman who never abandoned her, even with your last breath.”

The child was rushed to a hospital in Caracas, where she remains with her aunt. Héctor Bello, a defender for Marítimo de La Guaira, rushed to the capital to be with his daughter.

“How do I explain to your daughter that you gave your life to save hers, and that I wasn't there to do anything? How do I explain that? Give me strength now.”

His tribute has drawn an immense wave of support, surpassing 700,000 likes on Instagram by Friday.

Rescue efforts and mounting toll

Two earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck in quick succession on the evening of 24 June. The shocks caused widespread destruction in and around the capital Caracas and the coastal state of La Guaira. Search-and-rescue teams continue to work through collapsed structures in search of survivors, while authorities caution that the number of victims may still increase significantly. One report by the Dutch newspaper Telegraaf put the missing at about 50,000, illustrating the scale of the disaster.

Sports community mourns its own

The tragedy also hit the football world directly. Caracas Fútbol Club confirmed that youth player Razan Sijaa, a member of its U18 side, died alongside family members in their La Guaira home. The club described him as a joyful, dedicated teammate whose memory will live on. Former Marítimo de La Guaira player Victor Palacios also perished in the collapse.

Former Miss Venezuela Giselle Reyes announced that her mother was killed when her apartment building collapsed. Her story, like that of Héctor Bello, underscores the indiscriminate toll of the quakes on ordinary families across the region.