Worker dies after falling off Manaus stadium roof
MANAUS, Brazil (Reuters) – A worker fell 115
feet to his death from the roof of the Arena
Amazonia in Brazil on Saturday, the fifth fatal
accident during construction of Brazil's 12
World Cup stadiums.
Local media later reported that another worker
had died of a heart attack at a convention
centre next to the stadium in Manaus. The
building will be used to host meeting during
the World Cup.
The state's public prosecutor's office asked a
judge to suspend work on the Manaus stadium
until safe working conditions could be
guaranteed, though such requests are not
often granted in Brazil.
Marcleudo de Melo Ferreira, 22, died in a
hospital in Manaus around 4 a.m. He fell
nearly 35 meters (115 feet) after a cable broke
and became the fifth person to die while
building the World Cup stadiums.
"FIFA and the Local Organising Committee
(LOC) learnt of the death of the worker on
Saturday at the Arena Amazonia site with great
sadness," a FIFA statement said.
Andrade Gutierrez, the Brazilian firm building
the Amazonia stadium, said in another
statement that Ferreira worked for a company
that had been contracted to build the arena's
cover and work would be suspended until
Sunday.
However, the death of Jose Antonio da Silva
Nascimento, 49, from a heart attack led the
local construction union to threaten to strike,
possibly resulting in further delays.
Fatal accidents have occurred in Manaus,
Brasilia and most recently in Sao Paulo, where
two people died on November 27 after a crane
collapsed in the arena that is to host the
opening game on June 12.
Another worker died while working on
Palmeiras arena in Sao Paulo. While that
stadium will not be used to host World Cup
matches it could serve as an official training
base.
The tournament will take place in 12 Brazilian
cities.
Preparations for the competition – the first to
be held in South America since 1978 – have
been plagued by delays, accidents, cost
overruns, and public anger over government
waste that contributed to massive nationwide
street protests last year.
The third death in less than a month again
raised concerns that safety of workers was
being ignored as officials rush to finish their
arenas. Six stadiums are due to be delivered
between now and April, and several are well
behind schedule.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter last week appealed
to "God, Allah and whoever" to ensure the
stadiums will be ready in time.
Manaus will host four games, including the
high-profile encounter between former World
Cup winner England and Italy.