Wife of Venezuelan footballer dies making an attempt to save lots of daughter from devastating earthquake

The wife of Venezuelan soccer player Héctor Bello died as a result of the collapse of the residential building where she lived in La Guaira state, following the two devastating earthquakes

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The wife of Venezuelan soccer player has died trying to save her daughter from devastating earthquakes. Héctor Bello’s wife died as a result of the collapse of the residential building where she lived in La Guaira state, following the two devastating earthquakes that occurred Wednesday afternoon in Venezuela.

The seismic movement caused serious structural damage in various states of the country, especially La Guaira, Carabobo, Aragua, Miranda and Caracas. After intense searches, rescue teams managed to locate the woman’s lifeless body among the rubble, according to Notitarde.

Bello’s wife died in an attempt to save the life of her daughter, who survived in the collapsed structure, local media reported. Authorities say the disaster claimed at least 188 lives and left more than 200 people trapped. Many more were feared to have perished.

The 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude tremors that struck on Wednesday evening ranked amongst the most powerful to hit Venezuela in over a century and were felt across the entire region.

Around 1,500 people sustained injuries and thousands were reported missing throughout the nation. The coastal area of La Guaira, situated north of the capital Caracas, bore the brunt of the destruction and fatalities, authorities confirmed.

Structures were evacuated as far as Brazil’s Amazon region, approximately 1,700 kilometres (1,050 miles) from Caracas, where the nation’s primary airport suffered damage and was forced to shut down.

Across cities throughout northern Venezuela, terrified locals flooded onto the streets and many wandered amongst the wreckage hunting for the disappeared.

Television footage revealed emergency personnel wielding power tools to break through mountains of debris. In La Guaira, former schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendano clambered through the devastation and past a corpse when he noticed a woman who was trapped and gesturing with her hand for assistance.

“God, let them rescue her as quickly as possible,” said Mr Mendano.

“When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.” At another damaged residential block, inhabitants called out the names of missing individuals: “Mirna! Marquitos!” Offers of assistance flooded in from across the globe, including from the US, which captured Venezuela’s then-president Nicolas Maduro at the start of the year in a shock military intervention.

The natural catastrophe presents a significant test for acting president Delcy Rodriguez, the former vice president who assumed power in January following Maduro’s detention.

Venezuela has been grappling with economic turmoil for over a decade, with many citizens questioning the legitimacy of the political movement Ms Rodriguez embodies.

The president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, provided revised casualty figures on Thursday for those killed, trapped and wounded in the tremors.

Delcy Rodriguez announced authorities were relocating rescue crews from across the nation to La Guaira, which she branded a “disaster zone”.

“Dozens of buildings have collapsed there… and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” Ms Rodriguez stated.

Coverage on state television revealed three youngsters, dust-covered but breathing, extracted from the debris in La Guaira.

Ms Rodriguez urged companies to provide heavy machinery for rescue efforts, noting that UN-certified search and rescue squads were en route to assist.

While Venezuela lies close to several fault lines, its location spanning the South American and Caribbean plates renders powerful earthquakes far less frequent than in other regions of Latin America. The US Geological Survey reported that the initial earthquake, registering a magnitude of 7.2, struck west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, approximately 170 kilometres (105 miles) west of Caracas.

It had a depth of around 22 kilometres (about 14 miles).

Just a minute later, the USGS recorded a second earthquake, this one measuring 7.5 in magnitude, with a depth of 10 kilometres (about six miles) and an epicentre 16 kilometres (10 miles) south-west of Moron.

Officials implored residents to stay outdoors as aftershocks could potentially cause additional damage.

During the tremors, individuals fled from buildings.

Many were left in shock on Thursday morning as they witnessed buildings reduced to mere skeletons, furniture protruding from windows and helicopters hovering overhead.

In La Guaira, Cristian Carreno gazed at his burnt apartment building leaning perilously to one side.

“I lost everything,” he declared.

“There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”

Dayana Delgado, a mother of three, expressed her desperation as her eight year old son was missing.

“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she pleaded.

Ms Rodriguez declared a state of emergency during a late-night address to the nation on Wednesday.