BRAZIL STADIUM PROBLEMS
Problems at stadiums being built or renovated in Brazil for next year’s World Cup and the 2016 Olympics:
Nov. 27, 2013: Crane crashes into 500-ton metal structure at Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo, toppling it into arena's outer wall and destroying rows of seats and huge LED panel. Two workers die.
May 27, 2013: Small part of roof at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador collapses from weight of accumulated water from heavy rainstorm. No one injured.
March 28, 2013: Worker dies at construction site of Arena Amazonia in jungle city of Manaus, falling about 16.5 feet while crossing elevated concrete structure.
March 26, 2013: Rio de Janeiro officials close Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium, which will be used for track and field events at 2016 Olympics, and announce in June that it will remain closed until 2015 because of structural problems with roof. City authorities say it will take nearly 18 months to fix the stadium.
March 6, 2013: Heavy rains flood construction site at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, forcing cancellation of FIFA inspection visit to check on renovations for World Cup.
June 11, 2012: Worker dies when he falls 100 feet during construction of Mane Garrincha stadium in Brasilia.
Part of the stadium that will host the 2014 World Cup opener in Brazil collapsed Wednesday, killing two workers and raising urgent new concerns of whether the country will be ready for soccer’s signature event.
Brazil has been plagued by a series of setbacks — cost overruns, stadium delays, accidents, labor strife and massive street protests — in the run-up to the June tournament, once envisioned as a coming out party for South America’s largest nation, which is also scheduled to host the Olympics in 2016.
Wednesday’s accident at Sao Paulo’s Itaquerao stadium occurred when a construction crane crashed into a 500-ton metal structure that in turn cut through the outer walls of the venue, destroying rows of seats and slamming into a massive LED panel that runs across the stadium’s facade.
The accident could delay delivery of the stadium, which was practically finished. FIFA has set a December deadline for all 12 World Cup venues to be ready. The World Cup begins June 12 with Brazil playing at the Sao Paulo stadium.
Officials said there were no major structural damages to the stadium but declined to say how much the accident may affect the delivery.
“I don’t want to know about FIFA right now, we are worried about the families of the victims,” former Corinthians president Andres Sanchez said.
Sanchez said two people were confirmed dead, and nobody else was injured. A fire department official had said earlier that three people had died.
One of the workers, 42-year-old Fabio Luis Pereira, was inside a truck that was hit by the metal structure. The other, 44-year-old Ronaldo Oliveira dos Santos, was resting in an area that was supposed to be isolated.
“Unfortunately, nobody saw him, and he himself knew that he was not supposed to be there,” Sanchez said. “He was napping and unfortunately there wasn’t time for him to get out.”
The accident happened at lunchtime, so not many of the nearly 1,700 employees were on site when the crane collapsed on top of the metal structure, causing the deadly domino effect.
An official with constructor Odebrecht said a similar metal structure was installed with the same crane at the other side of the venue earlier this year.
“Everything was being done according to procedure,” said Frederico Barbosa, the construction site’s manager. “We will have to wait for the investigation to find out what caused the crane to collapse.”
Sanchez reiterated that it appeared to engineers on site that the structure of the stadium had not been compromised, meaning there could be enough time to get everything fixed for the World Cup. He said about 30 percent of the stadium will be closed off pending authorities’ investigations.
“Structurally, very little was affected,” he said.
Brazil is running against time to deliver the last six World Cup stadiums by the end of the year, although work at the Itaquerao was advanced compared to the other venues. FIFA has been pressuring local organizers to make sure all venues are ready by the December deadline so all test events can take place in time for the World Cup.
FIFA said it would not accept the same delays that plagued stadium construction before the Confederations Cup, when only two venues were delivered in time.
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said he was “extremely shocked by the news from Sao Paulo.”
“Our thoughts are with the families of the victims of this accident,” he said.
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