At least two people lost their lives on Wednesday, November 27 when a crane accidentally hit the structure of the stadium currently under construction in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
According to the first reports published by El Nuevo Herald, the stadium is scheduled to host the inaugural match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
A month before the deadline set by the FIFA for construction to end, the accident caused the collapse of the roof of the Itaquerão stadium in Sao Paulo, killing two and injuring another, while a team of firefighters believes someone else might be trapped under the rubble, reported CNN yesterday.
Odebrecht, the company in charge of construction, said that the accident happened when a group of workers attempted to raise the last module of the stadium's metallic structure. The company explained that a crane came crashing down, and a piece of it impacted the stands, causing the death of two workers.
"The crane, weighing close to a ton and a half, is considered the biggest in the world, and it was placing the last support for the northern roof (..) It seems like the crane couldn't hold the weight, and both the crane and the support fell onto the stadium and onto a worker rest area", said a journalist for CBN, quoted by El Nuevo Herald.
According to Univisión, Odebrecht confirmed that Fábio Luis Pereira, 42, driver of the crane, and Ronaldo Oliveira dos Santos, 44, were the workers that lost their lives.
Organizers of the World Cup said that this incident does not affect the inaugural match programmed for June 12, 2014 at the stadium. The deadline for the delivery of the stadiums established by FIFA ends on December 31, which is why it's been speculated that various stadiums in Brazil won't be finished on time.
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