China ended months of secrecy yesterday to reveal that two people have died constructing the iconic Bird’s Nest national stadium for the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

The admission of fatalities came only after a report in The Sunday Times that 10 people had died during the five years of building work at the stadium whose mesh of steel trusses resemble a nest of massive twigs.

Ding Zhenkuan, deputy head of the Beijing Bureau of Work Safety, grudgingly revealed the toll only after he came under pressure during a rare early evening news conference. Mr Ding at first dismissed the report in The Sunday Times. But then said: “There were two deaths at the Bird’s Nest, one in 2006 and one in 2007. We have properly compensated the families, reported the accidents to the construction community and seriously punished those responsible.”

But it was only amid confusion over the total number of dead and injured that Mr Ding finally revealed that another four people had died during construction of the other Olympic venues, bringing the total to six. He declined to give details of how or where they died and virtually scampered out of the media spotlight.

Four people were injured - one seriously and three slightly - during the five years of construction of the venues.

That compared with five deaths during the construction of the National Stadium in Athens and a total of 14 deaths in all during preparations for the 2004 games.

Chinese officials, responding with the secrecy that is a distinguishing characteristic of the ruling Communist Party, had until now refused to admit to a single death at any of the dozens of Olympic sites.

Construction of the venues is virtually complete, with only the Bird’s Nest still unfinished.

Officials yesterday unveiled their other most dramatic venue, the National Aquatics Centre, which stands beside the Bird’s Nest. The futuristic building looks like a flattish box covered in bubble wrap and has been dubbed the Water Cube.

The pool where American Michael Phelps could become the first man to win eight gold medals at a single games lies beneath a ceiling composed of a honeycomb of transparent plastic cushions. The building will be at its most dramatic at night when an LED system with 16.7 million tones will turn the arena into a kaleidoscope of colour both inside and out.

Zheng Fang, chief architect with China Construction Designs International, said: “Mostly it is a building of water, so we’ll use the colours of water.”

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