The body of Yimvert Berroterán, an 18-year-old midfielder for Venezuela’s under-20 national team and top-division club Universidad Central de Venezuela, was recovered from a collapsed building in the Los Corales sector of La Guaira on Friday, the Venezuelan Football Federation and his club confirmed. Berroterán had been missing since two powerful earthquakes struck the country on Wednesday. Local reports indicate his girlfriend also died in the same collapse.

According to Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, the earthquakes have killed at least 920 people and injured more than 3,200, while the United Nations estimates that over 50,000 remain missing. The football community has been hit hard: a 14-year-old youth player, Víctor Andrés Palacios Ledezma, and a female footballer, Yordelis Pereira, are also among the dead. The federation initially listed several other players as missing; some, including Fausto Escobar and Kleudes García, were later found alive, but officials in Caracas say at least five footballers—among them José Manuel Pimentel Berrios and Mainell Rondón—are still unaccounted for.

Accounts from the scene, carried by local media, suggest Berroterán was conscious beneath the rubble for hours and that neighbours and teammates pleaded for heavy lifting equipment that arrived too late. These details have not been independently verified by authorities. The twin tremors, measured at magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 and separated by only 39 seconds, originated in Yaracuy state and caused severe structural damage along the coast, including in La Guaira and the capital, Caracas. International rescue teams from nine countries have joined the search, with further assistance pledged by Washington and European capitals.

Search operations continue in the affected areas, and the provisional death toll is expected to rise as debris is cleared. The federation has declared a period of mourning, describing Berroterán as a player who “represented with pride, commitment and love the colours of our country.”