Construction bosses were warned about safety at the World Cup stadium where a giant crane collapse killed two workers, a union has claimed.
Antonio de Sousa Ramalho, president of Sao Paulo's civil industry workers' association, said supervisors pressed ahead with the operation to finish the roof of the Corinthians Arena despite several rainy days that soaked the soil.
He said a safety engineer warned his supervisor that it appeared the ground was not stable enough to support the 500-tonne piece of roofing the crane was lifting.
"To his surprise, he was told by the supervisor that nothing was wrong and work should continue," said Mr Ramalho, who declined to provide the worker's name for fear of possible reprisals.
"They discussed the matter for a while but in the end the supervisor's decision stood."
Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction company behind the stadium project and three other World Cup venues, strongly denied the claims, and a civil defence official said an initial inspection of the construction site a day after the accident showed no evidence the ground was unstable.
Ronaldo Oliveira dos Santos, 44, a fitter, and driver Fabio Luiz Pereira, 42, were crushed to death when the crane collapsed as it hoisted a 500-tonne structure.
According to Brazilian media, investigators are looking into human or mechanical error and amateur footage of the incident is likely to be analysed as part of the probe.
One video that has emerged shows the huge structure falling and crashing into the corner of the stadium.
A vast cloud of dust can be seen rising into the air and bystanders rush towards the scene of the crash seconds after the impact.
The footage was shot by architect and urban planner Marcio Campos, who said he happened to be filming at the construction site just seconds before accident.
Mr Campos was visiting the construction project on a technical visit with a group of architects just before the tragedy, local media reported.
The crane damaged the outer walls of the 70,000-seater venue - popularly known as the Itaquerao - and a giant LED screen.
Work on the stadium, which is due to stage the opening World Cup fixture, was due to be finished by December 31.
The competition's organisers Fifa said they now expect a delay of between 45 and 60 days.
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