Qatar says ‘500’ died building stadiums amid claims thousands perished

A QATAR World Cup chief has finally admitted hundreds of migrant workers died building Qatar’s stadiums and other tournament infrastructure.

Hassan Al Thawadi said in an interview on TalkTV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored: “The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500  . . .  I don’t have the exact number.”

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He said there were three work-related deaths in construction directly for the tournament — but that rose into the hundreds for all infrastructure projects.

He added: “One death is a death too many, plain and simple.

“I think every year the health and safety standards on the sites are improving, at least on the World Cup sites, the ones that we’re responsible for.

“To the extent that you’ve got trade unions – representatives of the German trade union, the Swiss trade union have commended the work that’s been done on the World Cup sites and the improvement.

“Improvements had to happen.

“This was something that was recognised before we bid.

Other estimates put the toll at up to 15,000.

Steve Cockburn from Amnesty International said: “Until all abuses suffered by migrant workers are remedied, this World Cup will be severely tarnished.”