2 killed as crane collapses at Brazilian World Cup stadium

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 News reported Wednesday. 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". Sepp Blatter, president of Fifa - football's world governing body - said he was "deeply saddened by the tragic deaths"