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Collapse at World Cup stadium kills two

A section of Arena Corinthians has collapsed reportedly killing two workers. The stadium had been scheduled to host the opening match of the 2014 World Cup.

By Zach Woosley
Scott Heavey

An crane collapse at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paolo has caused severe damage to the stadium and killed two workers, according to reports from Brazil. The future home of Corinthians had been scheduled to host six World Cup matches this coming summer, including the opening match on June 12th, 2014.

Reports are still flooding out of Brazil in the wake of the collapse, but we've been told so far is that a construction crane collapsed as a result of soil bearing failure. The crane appears to have fallen onto the roof truss, which also failed and caused significant damage to the east stand. The accident is reported to have occurred during a general lunch break, so a large number of workers were not close to the site.

Arena Corinthians was scheduled to open in February 2014 and two weeks ago construction was said to be nearly 94% complete. Questions will be asked as to whether the accident will lead to a delay in the stadium's completion, but the loss of life seems far more important right now.

Update: Original reports that three people died in the accident were inaccurate. There were two fatalities.

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