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The Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo was close to completion when the deadly accident occurred, severely damaging the 70,000-seat venue that’s set to host the tournament’s first match and five other games, including a semifinal tilt.
Ground under the crane buckled for unknown reasons, causing the massive construction tool to collapse, workers and witnesses told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. Sao Paulo had been enduring several days of heavy downpours before Wednesday’s accident.
The crane had been lifting a portion of the roof when it collapsed, witnesses said.
“I saw the piece of the crane was lifting, balance in the air, suddenly it started to shake and fell on to the stadium,” 43-year-old garbage collector Elifaz dos Santos told the paper.
“I heard a very loud boom, as if an entire building was falling,”
Two construction workers were killed — one who was using a portable bathroom and the other who was installing seats, witnesses said.
Another victim was a local cab driver asleep in his car by the construction site, according to witnesses.
“When I heard the noise, everything was falling on to the stadium seats,” construction worker Jose Valter said. “It was a huge noise of destruction. I’m still shaking.”
Brazil plays host of the world-famous soccer tournament this upcoming June and July
FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, had demanded that all 12 stadiums used for the World Cup be completed in December, and Wednesday’s deadly accident could push construction plans behind schedule.
“It’s impossible to make any forecasts at this moment,” said Ricardo Trade, executive director of the local organizing committee for the World Cup.
“What we know is what the images are showing, that part of the structure fell down.”
Trade added: “At the same time, we can’t think that if [construction] is delayed by three months, the stadium will end up out of the World Cup.”
After the World Cup, this stadium was set to be used by famed Brazilian soccer side Sport Club Corinthians Paulista.
“FIFA and the LOC [local organizing committee] have learnt of the death of workers at the Corinthian’s Arena site in Sao Paulo with great sadness,” FIFA said in a statement. “We wish to send our heartfelt condolences to the family of the workers who tragically died today.”
TV images showed that a huge metal structure buckled atop the stadium, destroying a swath of what would be the venue’s east stands.
A huge LED panel outside the stadium was also hit by the crane collapse.
“If I had arrived a little bit earlier, I would have died,” said construction worker Benedito Donizeti Moreira, 50. “I thought of everything and I should have been dead.”
The Brazilian industrial conglomerate Odebrecht SA, builders of this stadium, recently said the venue was 94-percent complete. The company declined immediate comment.
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