Wife of Soccer Star Dies Saving Their Toddler in Quake

A Venezuelan soccer player is mourning a loss that's being held up as an act of ultimate sacrifice. Local media report that Hector "Kike" Bello's wife, identified as Andrea, died shielding their young daughter during the powerful earthquakes that struck near Caracas on Wednesday, killing at least 920 people and injuring more than 3,000, per the BBC. In an Instagram tribute, Bello wrote that Andrea "gave [her] own life" for their child and vowed to one day tell their daughter how her mother "never abandoned you," even as Andrea took her "last breaths."

Bello, who the Sun notes is a defender for Marítimo de La Guaira, said he rushed to the capital, where his daughter is hospitalized but expected to recover; an aunt who was with the child also survived, per the BBC. A regional soccer organization, Cumana de Campeones, confirmed that Bello's partner was found dead in the collapsed building where the family lived, and that their daughter made it out alive. Univision and other outlets have also reported the death. Authorities are still combing through debris as the death toll climbs. Among the victims are four Spanish nationals, one Portuguese citizen, and two Brazilians, with more than 100 Spanish citizens still unaccounted for.