Worker dies in Sao Paulo monorail construction accident

Three days before the start of the World Cup, a monorail construction accident in Sao Paulo, Brazil, killed one worker and seriously injured two others, according to local news reports.

A support beam fell from a height of about 80 feet on Monday afternoon, killing a 27-year-old construction worker and seriously injuring two others, the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper said.

“If a car or bus had been passing at that time, it would have been much worse,” Jair Paca, coordinator of the city’s Civil Defense, told the paper.

The expansion of the metro system was originally supposed to have been finished before the World Cup began, but in 2011, not long after construction started, the government warned it would not be done in time, the Associated Press reported.

Brazilian news outlets shared photos of the accident site on Twitter:

Also on Monday, leaders of striking subway workers announced that the union was suspending a work stoppage that has thrown traffic into chaos in Sao Paulo.

In a statement on the union's website, they said they would hold a vote Wednesday to determine whether to resume the strike Thursday -- the day the city hosts the World Cup's opening game.

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