An overpass under construction collapsed on Thursday in Belo Horizonte, the World Cup host city, killing at least two people and trapping a commuter bus, two construction trucks, and a car.
At least 22 people were reported injured. There was not any word on whether foreign tourists were among those killed or injured.
Brazilian officials didn’t think the casualty numbers would rise too sharply — though they said they had not yet reached a small passenger car that was flattened by the falling overpass. It was not known if anyone inside the car escaped or remained inside.
It was not known what caused the overpass to fall. Cowan, the construction company responsible for building it, said investigators were on site but had not released any conclusions.
The overpass collapsed about 3 miles from Mineirao Stadium, which has hosted several World Cup matches in recent weeks and is the site of a semifinal match Tuesday.
Security camera footage showed heavy traffic on the street below the structure the moment that the overpass collapsed, striking vehicles below and trapping them underneath.
Brazil: Embrace pace
Luiz Felipe Scolari thinks Brazil may be at an advantage by playing in the quarterfinals against a Colombia team that likes to attack often.
Scolari said he knows it will be a very tough match on Friday in Fortaleza, but expects Brazil to face fewer difficulties than it did in the second-round game against a feisty and more defensive-minded Chilean team.
The Brazilian coach said he doesn’t expect ‘‘a war’’ against Colombia, which plays with an upbeat style that is both thrilling and effective.
‘‘The matches against Colombia are very tough, they have a very good team,’’ Scolari said. ‘‘But it’s different. It’s a different type of rivalry. When we don’t have this war atmosphere, our players feel more at ease. Teams like Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile don’t let that happen.’’
Brazil struggled against Chile and was never able to impose its game. After a 1-1 draw, the tournament hosts needed a great performance by goalkeeper Julio Cesar in the penalty shootout to keep alive their hopes of a sixth world title.
Former Brazil great Ronaldo is certain Scolari ‘‘will change something’’ to reawaken Brazil’s attack.
‘‘We are waiting for a good performance by Brazil. We are not playing well. I am disappointed with the first four matches,’’ said Ronaldo, the joint leading World Cup goal scorer of all time. ‘‘I think [Scolari] will change something. I don’t know what.’’
There has been much speculation that right back Dani Alves and striker Fred are in danger of being cut from the starting lineup. One player who will certainly be missing is defensive midfielder Luis Gustavo, who is suspended for yellow cards. Paulinho, who started the first three group games before being replaced by Fernandinho, is a candidate to return to the starting lineup.
Strikers Fred and Jo have between them just one of the eight goals by Brazil in the tournament so far. Like many of his countrymen, Ronaldo sees this faltering strike force as an area of concern.
‘‘They aren’t playing well. There are no secrets, my advice is to run a lot and try and score as much as you can,’’ he said. ‘‘But it’s not easy to play like a No. 9, even if you have Neymar playing with you.’’
Germany at risk
Germany is playing in the quarterfinals for a ninth straight World Cup and also reached at least the semifinals of the last two European Championships. But there is a growing feeling that a young and dynamic France team can bring down its more experienced opponent.
With Germany’s defense stretched — and sometimes shambolic — this tournament, that’s a department the French will aim to exploit at Rio’s Maracana Stadium.
‘‘I have a lot of respect for Germany,’’ France coach Didier Deschamps said. ‘‘The team is at a higher level, at least on paper.’’
Deschamps will likely be wrestling with two selection dilemmas ahead of the match, chiefly whom to partner with Karim Benzema in attack. Oliver Giroud has height and presence, but Antoine Griezmann offers guile and craft and they might be the qualities that will give the Germany defense more problems.
Germany coach Joachim Lowe said his team’s best is yet to come.
‘‘We have not yet delivered our best possible performance,’’ Loew said. ‘‘But I don’t think anyone has reached their absolute top performance yet.”
However, seven Germany players have been struggling with illness.
‘‘One-third of our squad has been complaining about a sore throat,’’ Loew said. ‘‘But yesterday and today all players have been training and none were feeling exhaustion. I just hope that stays stable until [Friday].’’
FIFA: Suarez ban just
FIFA’s disciplinary committee chairman said Luis Suarez received a just punishment and was not made an example of. Claudio Sulser told reporters the Uruguay and Liverpool forward’s World Cup biting case was ‘‘very severe.’’ Suarez was banned for nine Uruguay matches, four months from all football, and fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($112,000) by Sulser’s seven-man panel. Sulser said through a translator, ‘‘One thing I mentioned in my capacity as the chairman is we don’t need to impose an exemplary sanction, we need to have justice.’’ . . . Brazilian police investigating ticket scalping at the World Cup are alleging ‘‘someone from FIFA’’ is a source of tickets being resold for many times the face value. Rio police Inspector Fabio Barucke on Thursday said the person under investigation was staying at Rio’s Copacabana Palace Hotel, where some of FIFA’s highly ranked officials and MATCH Hospitality — which holds the rights to the World Cup hospitality program — are based. Barucke confirmed 11 people were arrested earlier in the week.