28/11/2013 10:50
Two die in Brazil World Cup stadium accident
Two people have died in an accident at Sao Paulo's stadium, which is due to host the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Cup finals, the BBC reported, citing police.
A senior local fire official said crews were called to the Arena Corinthians after reports of a collapsed crane.
It fell on top of a metal structure, destroying part of a facade.
The arena was due to be completed at the end of December to meet a Fifa deadline. Brazil has admitted it is struggling to have all 12 venues ready.
Brazilian police said two people had been killed in Wednesday's accident, after earlier reports quoted fire officials as saying that three had died.
The crane operator was taken to hospital, but was later released.
Odebrecht Infrastructure, the company building the stadium, told the BBC that the accident happened shortly before 13:00 local time (15:00 GMT).
It said "the crane that hoisted the last module of the structure of the metal roof collapsed causing the fall of the part of the circulation area of the east building."
A LED panel outside the venue was also hit.
The company stressed that the structure of the stadium was not damaged.
Most of the workers are believed to have been away on their lunch breaks at the time.
TV footage later showed the huge metal structure buckled on top of the stadium, which is also known as Itaquerao.
Corinthians, the club that will move into the new stadium, said in a short statement that it "deeply regrets the accident."
Sepp Blatter, president of Fifa - football's world governing body - said he was "deeply saddened by the tragic deaths."