Emergency workers respond to Brazil bridge collapse

Emergency service workers in the Brazilian World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte on Thursday (July 3) worked into the night responding to the collapse of an unfinished overpass which killed at least two people, according to emergency officials.    

Television images showed the front of a passenger bus crushed by the overpass, which was located about two miles (3 km) from the Mineirao Stadium where World Cup games are being played. Other vehicles were also crushed underneath the wreckage, officials said.      

Two people died and 19 were injured, a spokeswoman for the Minas Gerais state health department told Reuters. A fire department spokesman said there was still one person trapped in a car, and possibly more.      

The cause of the collapse was unclear. The overpass was part of a network of bus lanes that Brazil planned to have ready for the World Cup, but was not finished on time.            

A World Cup semi-final match will be held in Belo Horizonte next Tuesday (July 8). The stadium has already hosted five games.     

Heavy government spending on the World Cup and long delays in infrastructure projects have spurred violent street protests in Brazil over the past year, although they have died down in recent weeks.     

Last month, one worker died after a 90-tonne beam fell during the construction of a monorail train project in Sao Paulo.
                       

REUTERS