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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.

Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku

I am a Ghanaian Broadcast Journalist/Writer who has an interest in General News, Sports, Entertainment, Health, Lifestyle and many more.

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