Footballer’s wife dies while saving baby daughter during earthquake

A hero mother

Husband Héctor Bello wrote on social media that his wife Andrea, whom he called “his precious love”, managed to save the life of their toddler but she was tragically killed.

“I'll tell her the story of 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 as you took your last breaths”, the Venezuelan footballer wrote in his Instagram post.

Bello, in a series of posts, revealed that he travelled to Caracas, the country’s capital, where his daughter was in the hospital.

“My daughter and her aunt are doing well, they won't be discharged today - they're staying at the hospital. Thank you so much for supporting me through this immense pain”, he posted on Friday.

In a separate Instagram story, Bello wrote: “How do I explain to your daughter that you lost your life to save hers, and that I wasn't there to do anything? How do I explain it? Give me strength now.”

A local Venezuelan footballer press and publicity organisation, Cumaná de Campeones, also posted about her death.

“We regret to report that the partner of footballer Héctor Bello ‘Kike’ - originally from Cumana - was found dead in the rubble following the earthquake that struck the country.”

“Their daughter, however, survived the collapse of the building where the entire family resided.”

Nearly a thousand people killed in the twin quakes

Twin quakes near the capital Caracas killed at least 920 people and injured more than 3,000 others, as rescuers are continuing to search through rubble to find survivors.

Back to back earthquakes hit the South American nation on Wednesday evening (24 June) at 18:04 local time (23:04 BST) with almost apocalyptic footage from the country being shared online.

The quakes had magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 and hit west of the capital, being felt as far away as Bogota, Colombia.

Donald Trump, who recently oversaw the capture of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, released a statement on Truth Social.

He wrote: "The two major earthquakes that just hit the great people of Venezuela are both massive in scale and have left a devastating number of deaths. The U.S.A. stands ready, willing, and able to help!