An appointed authority in Brazil has fined authorities and development organizations R$240m ($48.3m; £38.3m) over the breakdown of a structure site in the city of São Paulo.
Seven individuals were killed in the mishap in 2007, when a huge sinkhole unexpectedly opened up, gulping walkers and vehicles. Laborers were digging a passage to expand the metro framework in the Pinheiros neighborhood when the earth gave way.
The appointed authority said the breakdown was expected to "careless" and "perilous" acts. Those responsible for the development project disregarded admonitions from specialists, who said "pressing" support structures were required in the passage, and pushed ahead with the work to acquire time, Judge Marcos de Lima Porta said, as announced by Brazilian paper O Globo.
The previous leader of São Paulo's Metrô, a designer, and a development controller were among the six individuals and six organizations requested to pay remuneration. One of the laborers kicked the bucket in 2018, yet the appointed authority decided that his main beneficiaries should pay his fine.
The 2,200-sq-m (23,680-sq-ft) opening covered a minibus, obliterated seven houses and caused the relocation of nearly 200 individuals.
Elevated photos of the site, which was in a bustling area of São Paulo, showed how gigantic the hole was - with trucks falling on top of one another. Examiners for the situation said the fiasco had caused "phenomenally extraordinary" injury to the number of inhabitants in São Paulo, Brazil's most active city. Those indicted are supposed to pursue.