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Brazil World Cup stadium collapse kills at least two, may delay construction

BrazilStadiumCollapse2013SaoPaulo1 (AP)

By CAITLIN MURRAY

A small section of a 2014 World Cup stadium in Brazil collapsed Wednesday, killing at least two and causing damage that could delay completion of the project, according to local reports.

Work on Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo had been nearly completed when a crane fell, causing a metal structure beneath to buckle and destroy part of the stands. It also damaged an LED panel outside the venue.

The stadium is scheduled to host six matches at the upcoming World Cup in Brazil, including the opening game of the tournament and one of two semifinal matches.

Authorities on the scene reported two dead, but no information about the victims has been released yet. The accident apparently happened during lunch time so the site was less busy with people.

Earlier reports put the number dead at three, but that number was revised to two confirmed dead.

FIFA quickly released a statement offering sympathies to the victims and declaring that “the safety of workers is the top priority for FIFA, the LOC and the federal government.”

“The Department of Labour and the local authorities will fully investigate the reasons behind such a tragic accident,” the statement added. “Please understand that we are in no position to comment further at this stage, as we are awaiting further details from the authorities.”

Brazilian club Corinthians, which owns the stadium, released their own statement in Portuguese saying they “deeply regret the accident.”

The accident comes after reports earlier this week that despite deadline extensions, some of Brazil’s 2014 stadiums won’t be completed on time.

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What do you think of this news? Do you think the construction of the stadiums in Brazil has been handled properly? Do you see the stadium being finished in time?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Crane fell over onto an auxiliary structure. Likely to be a one person error, and can happen even in well-managed efforts. Cranes falling over are usually tragic. Been there, done that, no need to ever get another t-shirt, can’t forget it.

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  2. Sad for the workers involved and their families. Geez. Herr Blatter must be thinking that dealing with South Africa was easy compared to Brazil. Don’t worry Sepp. Russia and Qatar issues will be the same level. Just different types.

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  3. Sympathy for the workers and their families first and foremost.

    Having said that I think FIFA should revise their bidding process for the World Cup. The voting for the World Cup should take place 3-4 years before the event, and the voting should rely solely on the facilities in existance at the time of the vote.

    Firstly this will stop countries that can’t truly afford to host the event from spending money they don’t have to build stadia that will not see nearly enough use post-World Cup to warrant their construction. Second, it will prevent any of these deadline concerns over whether the facilities will be ready in time for the event. Thirdly, it should prevent bids that make claims of using futuristic technology to aid in the hosting of the event.

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    • Germany could obviously afford the 2006 World Cup but benefited a ton from having the time to build world class stadiums like Dortmund, Schalke, and Bayern’s.

      In addition, the sort of stuff that in an ideal world makes hosting a world cup worthwhile long-term (public spending on much needed infrastructure in a place like Brazil, etc.) takes a while to do.

      Brazil has unique deadline issues because it wasted years with inactivity over which cities would actually host games. The South Africa ones were mostly European fabrications.

      Lastly, it’s the WORLD Cup. Instead of making it an event only the wealthy and successful can host, FIFA should work on ways to ease the burden on poorer nations who want to host, like maybe investing way more of those insane profits they make off the world cup. Joint bids in conjunction with a decreased minimum number of host cities could also help ease the burden.

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      • Yes, if we lived in an ideal world where people actually cared about the greater good maybe that could happen, but in that world we would already be living in a global socialist economy and there would be no rich countries and poor countries.

        It’s not in FIFA’s best interests to be the primary source of funds for construction in underdeveloped nations, so it’s not going to happen. If you think otherwise you’re living in a fantasy world.

  4. Sympathy for the dead workers.

    Stops there. F$ Brazil and their rampant corruption, slave-driving, and suspension of labor laws for World Cup stadiums.

    And that X10 for Qatar.

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