Two people are believed to have been killed after a crane collapsed at the Brazilian football stadium due to host the opening match at next year's World Cup.
The final part of the structure, which was due to be one of the centerpieces of the 2014 tournament, was being installed at the Corinthians stadium when the 500-ton crane cut through the roof of the east side stand, causing extensive damage.
One of the dead workers, 42-year-old Fabio Luis Pereira, was inside a truck when it was hit by the falling metal structure.
The other, 44-year-old Ronaldo Oliveira dos Santos, was said to be 'napping' during a break in an area that was supposed to have been cleared.
The accident happened at lunchtime, so few of the nearly 1,700 workers were on the site when the crane collapsed.
A stonemason who was off at a cafeteria said it was lucky the accident happened when it did.
Evadro Pereira, 32, said: 'If it hadn't been lunchtime there would have been many more deaths. It was really very scary.'
Already, public prosecutors and a workers union in Sao Paulo were demanding an investigation into conditions at the venue, saying work shouldn't resume until authorities deem the stadium safe.
None of the employees will be returning to the site for the next three days during a mourning period.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said he is 'deeply saddened' by reports of deaths.
He added in the statement on Twitter: 'Our heartfelt condolences are with the families.'
Television footage showed the twisted metal structure on the ground amid heavy debris.
The enormous crane can be seen crushed against a large portion of the stands in pictures taken from the air.
A LED panel installed outside the venue was also hit.
Cranes were lifting large parts of the roof onto the stand throughout the morning and collapsed when the last module was being installed.
A joint statement from the construction company Odebrecht and Corinthians said the procedure had been completed 38 times before and similar work had been done on the rest of the site in the weeks prior.
It added that the grandstand had not been compromised, an early suggestion the damage could be repaired.
The construction site's manager Frederico Barbosa said the structure of the site had been 'little affected.'
He added: 'Everything was being done according to procedure, the construction site's manager.'We will have to wait for the investigation to find out what caused the crane to collapse.'
He said that around 30 percent of the stadium will be closed off pending authorities' investigations.
The stadium - known locally as Itaquerao - was 94 per cent completed and work was due to end next month.
An engineer working on the project told Sky News before the accident that the construction was going to plan and the £218million stadium would be finished by the deadline.
The stadium was already eight months overdue, and was due to be completed in March, but now builders have seven months to try and repair the extensive damage.
More than 2,000 people were working on the site, but only a small number of people were at the stadium at the time of the collapse.
It is designed to seat 65,000 people during the tournament next summer and host six games, including a semi-final.
However it is not immediately clear whether the damage will impact the 2014 competition schedule.
A FIFA spokesman said: 'FIFA and the LOC have learnt of the death of workers at the Corinthian's Arena site in Sao Paulo with great sadness.
'We wish to send our heartfelt condolences to the family of the workers who tragically died today.'
Football's governing body added that the 'safety of workers is the top priority' to World Cup organizers.
'We know the safety of all workers has always been paramount for all the construction companies contracted to build the 12 FIFA World Cup stadiums.
'The local authorities will fully investigate the reasons behind such a tragic accident.'
Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke said: 'Extremely shocked by the news from Sao Paulo. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims of this accident.
This is not the first time Brazil has suffered setbacks and experienced accidents at stadium construction sites.
One worker died during construction of a stadium in the capital Brasilia last year and another in the Manaus venue in March.
Also in March, heavy rains flooded the construction site of the Maracana Stadium, forcing the cancellation of a FIFA inspection visit at the time. In May, a small part of the roof at the Salvador stadium fell in after it wasn't able to sustain the large amount of water that settled on top of it.
In April, another worker died at the construction site of the new Palmeiras stadium, which may be used for teams training for the World Cup in Sao Paulo.
The construction site was stopped for 10 days after the incident, but the damage was not as significant as at the Corinthians venue.
In Rio, the stadium which will host athletics in the 2016 Olympics has been closed for several months because of fears that its roof could collapse. Renovation work is underway at the venue.
The accident is the latest blow to construction work which is hoping to six of the 12 stadiums finished by December ahead of the World Cup.
Work at the Arena da Amazonia stadium in Manaus has been beset by tropical rain. Six of the stadiums are due to be handed to FIFA by December 20. The other six were delivered earlier this year for the Confederations Cup.
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