The French manufacturer Alstom was sentenced, along with other companies and officials, to a collective fine of almost 45 million euros by a Brazilian court for a collapse that killed seven people in 2007 at the construction works of a metro line in Sao Paulo, according to a decision that AFP learned of on Saturday, February 17.
The court of justice of the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil sentenced six people, then responsible for the metro management company, and seven companies involved in the project to pay a collective fine of 240 million reais (44.8 million euros). , considering that his “administrative error” had led to the collapse.
The decision, which can be appealed, also prohibits those convicted from working in the public sector and the companies involved from contracting public contracts in Brazil for five years.
The road swallowed by an abyss
On January 12, 2007, workers were carrying out excavation work at the Pinheiros metro station, in the west of the Brazilian economic capital, when a large sinkhole opened and swallowed part of a nearby road. Pedestrians and vehicles were swept away by a pile of dirt, asphalt and concrete.
Seven people died and more than 90 buildings in the area had to be demolished or closed.
Despite signs of structural weakness at the tunnel site, “the drilling was carried out in an already fragile location and the necessary support structures were not immediately installed,” wrote Judge Marcos de Lima Porta in his ruling published on Friday.
“This approach proved not only dangerous, but also negligent, clearly putting the site at imminent risk of collapse.”
Other companies sanctioned include Brazilian construction and engineering giants OAS (now Grupo Metha), Queiroz Galvao, Camargo Correa and CBPO, a subsidiary of Odebrecht (now Novonor).
Source: BFM TV
