Eight Dead After Stadium Collapses in Brazil

Terrible terrible news from Brazil last night as eight fans died when part of a stadium collapsed during the game between Bahia and Vila Nova. As Bahia fans celebrated the 0-0 draw (which ensured promotion to the second division) the concrete stadium gave way and dozens of fans fell though cracks which opened up in the high stands and eight of them lost their lives. You get a horrifying idea of how far the drop is from the image, left.

There were 60,000 present at the Fonte Nova Stadium in Salvador, Bahia, the 50+ years old stadium which was recently condemned by Brazilian architects and engineers as being “in ruins.”

This is obviously a tragedy, but I feel it shouldn’t be used to cast doubt on Brazil’s ability to host to the 2014 World Cup. It’s true that Salvador is a potential host city, but it’s highly unlikely the Fonte Nava Stadium would have been used after being given such a damning report by experts.

More importantly though, it shouldn’t have been used for last night’s game. As Chris on The Offside points out, Bahia have a second stadium called the Pituaçu which holds 20,000. The game was played at the Fonte Nava due to the anticipated high attendance, despite the damning safety report, and now eight people are dead. The stadium has been shut down while the accident is investigated.