On Thursday, November 28, during the final stages of the construction of the 2014 World Cup stadium in Sao Paulo, a crane carrying a 500-ton piece of roofing collapsed into the stadium. Two of the constructions workers operating the crane were killed as they were wrapping up minor seals in the stadiums walls.
Sao Paulo is grieving after this tragic incident, especially since the stadium had been 94% completed. In an interview with Goal Brazil, one worker said, “I was a little far from the place of the accident, but what I know is that this would’ve been the last piece to be installed in the stadium structure. We were lucky that several workers weren’t there at the moment, because it happened during lunch break.”
This has been the third and most fatal accident that has occurred during the construction of Brazil’s World Cup stadium. The stadium was intended to kick off the World Cup next summer, but this accident has created a setback in the World Cup schedule. FIFA administrators said that the names of the victims of this accident will be announced during next June’s opening match of the World Cup to remember the workers and appreciate all they have done.
Before resuming work on the construction of the stadium, all the workers gathered on December 2 at the accident site to conduct a prayer for the victims. The $360 million stadium’s collapse will delay completion for another 30 days, exceeding the December deadline for all 12 World Cup venues to be ready.