SAO PAULO
The body of a second man killed after an overpass collapsed in the Brazilian soccer World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte has been discovered under the debris.
Local media reported on Friday that 25-year-old Charlys Frederico Nascimento was found by emergency workers inside a car crushed under a huge section of the fallen concrete structure.
The body of bus driver Hanna Cristina dos Santos, 24, had been found earlier in the wreckage of his bus, which had been full of passengers - many of whom escaped largely unharmed - at the time of the collapse.
Twenty-two people were injured. Two trucks crushed along with the front end of the bus were unoccupied.
- 'Sad' incident
The flyover structure, which was due to be ready for the World Cup as part of the city's new rapid-transit bus system, fell onto the main Avenida Dom Pedro I highway on Thursday afternoon.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Twitter that she learned of the incident "with sadness" and that she "pledged her solidarity to the victims' families".
The city's mayor, Marcio Lacerda, announced three days of official mourning over the two deaths, and that World Cup events - such as the FIFA Fan Fest, where ticketless fans gather to watch the games on big screens - would be canceled, despite Brazil's much-anticipated quarterfinal clash against Colombia later on Friday.
The site of the incident is just 4 km from the city's Mineirão stadium, which will host the first of the country's two World Cup semifinals on Tuesday, 8 July.
The highway connects the north of the city and the satellite city of Confins, where the main international airport is located, with the upmarket Pampulha district.
- 'Deep regret'
The new bus system was part of the package of urban mobility improvements meant to be part of the country's World Cup legacy, and was set to cost 460 million Brazilian reais ($208 million).
Investigations into the incident, including one by the construction company responsible for the structure, have already begun.
The company, Cowan, offered its full support, and said in a statement that it "deeply regretted" the fatal accident.
Concerns over the structure had previously been raised after inspectors found it had subsided by 27cm, but locals authorities ruled out any risk of the overpass collapsing in February this year, and went on to allow traffic to pass underneath the building site.
According to GloboNews, although delayed for the World Cup, the structure was set to be inaugurated later this month, and support struts had recently been removed in readiness for its completion.
- 'Thunderous earthquake'
A second overpass is being built to the site and an emergency inspection by the local fire department, charged with inspecting building structures, has seen extra supports being added.
Local residents told Brazilian media the collapse sounded like a "thunderous earthquake".
Others said the pace of work on the construction site had been ramped up over the past year in an effort to get the project ready on time.
Buildings in the vicinity are being checked for signs of damage.
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