Argentinian soccer player's wife and kids found dead after horrific double earthquake in Venezuela

The wife and children of a player on the Argentinian soccer team have died in an earthquake in Venezuela.

More than 1,400 people have been killed and thousands are still missing after two powerful earthquakes struck the country, causing widespread devastation.

Photos of missing people have been plastered around hospitals as emergency responders and families continue to look for their loved ones.

Argentinian footballer Lucas Trejo had been waiting for news after his wife Yanina Maranella and their two children Aaron and Ainhoa Trejo were reported missing during the earthquakes after their apartment block collapsed.

Taking to Instagram, he wrote: "Our building in Playa Grande collapsed. I don't know anything about my family. Please pray for them and share this message in case someone saw them. I want to believe they weren't there. Please pray for my family."

Rescue efforts are still underway (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)

Tragically, it has now been confirmed that all of them were killed in the natural disaster.

Trejo is from Argentina but plays for the Venezuelan club Maritimo, and had been away in Caracas getting ready for a match when the earthquake struck.

In a statement, the club said: “Club Sport Maritimo La Guaira deeply mourns the loss suffered by Lucas Trejo's family; we ask for respect for his relatives and teammates. After a 74-hour search, they were found deceased.”

Trejo's friend Edson Tortolero also posted on social media about the tragedy, writing in a statement which has been translated: “We inform all the people of Venezuela and Argentina that the bodies of Lucas Trejo's family members have been found lifeless.

“We thank everyone for the support and ask for the most sincere respect for his family at this time. WE PRAY FOR ETERNAL LIFE FOR THEM.”

Playa Grande is a coastal area of Venezuela, and was hit particularly badly by the recent earthquakes.

Mass rescue efforts are now underway in the stricken country, as officials said that 1,430 people have been confirmed to have died.

A rescue operation is now underway (Manaure Quintero / AFP via Getty Images)

The earthquakes came in at a magnitude of 7.2 for the first, which hit Yaracuy west of Caracas, and then a magnitude of 7.5 for the second according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

President of the National Assembly of Venezuela Jorge Rodríguez also confirmed that 3,238 people have been given medical attention for injuries following the earthquakes.

An international rescue effort is now underway, with the BBC reporting that 21 delegations have been sent from around the world to provide assistance including 2,242 rescue workers and 96 canine units to search for survivors in the rubble.

Sadly, experts from the USGS have said that they expect the death toll to rise significantly over the coming days.

An estimate from the organization said that the final death toll is likely to be around around 10,000 people, though it stressed that at present this is an estimate and it could be lower or higher.

This estimate was drawn up using the PAGER system, which looks at factors such as the number of buildings, strength of the earthquake, and even what time of day it happened.