Footballer’s wife dies shielding their one-year-old daughter in Venezuela earthquakes

The body of brave mum Andrea Bello was discovered protecting her one-year-old daughter after the earthquakes broke out in Venezuela.

The body of brave mum Andrea Bello was discovered protecting her one-year-old daughter after the earthquakes broke out in Venezuela.

Her husband, Marítimo de La Guaira player Héctor Bello, penned an emotional tribute to her, asking for ‘strength’.

Miraculously, their toddler, Alana, survived thanks to her mum’s sacrifice and was discovered under the rubble in time by search and rescue.

Nearly 50,000 people are missing and at least 589 people have died following magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes in and around the capital Caracas on Thursday.

The rare double strike, which were 39 seconds apart, was the strongest since 1900, according to the US Geological Survey.

The organisation has also predicted more than 10,000 deaths, and the state of La Guaira has been declared a ‘disaster zone’ and is being militarised.

The earthquakes come as the country goes through political upheaval, as former president Nicolas Maduro was arrested by the US just six months ago.

Countries including the UK, Germany, India and Mexico are helping with relief efforts as families desperately search for loved ones.

On social media, Héctor Bello said she had ‘left them alone in the fight’, leaving him ‘all alone’ with their little girl.

‘How do I tell that to my daughter?’ Héctor wrote. ‘Andrea, how do I explain to your daughter that you lost your life to save hers and I wasn’t there in that moment to do anything?

In another message today, he added: ‘You’ll always be our favourite hero, Mummy. I’m going to make sure our baby remembers how wonderful you were, how much you loved her.

‘I’ll tell her the story of how you saved her, how you gave your own life for our daughter, how you were a brave woman who, even with your last breath, never abandoned her.’