Two workers were killed and three others were injured in an accident at a construction site for a 51-story building near Tokyo Station on Tuesday.
One of the injured workers remained unconscious, according to authorities.
The workers were caught up in the incident when a steel column weighing about 15 tons collapsed, and four of the victims fell from the seventh floor to the third floor of the site in the Yaesu district of Chuo Ward, at 9:20 a.m., according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. The cause of the incident remains under investigation, NHK reported.
The fifth worker was injured while working on the third floor. The male workers are believed to be in their 20s through their 40s.
The two workers who died were Yuichiro Hara, 33, of Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, and Hirokazu Hanada, 43, of Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, according to the police.
At the site, located in a bustling area near the Yaesu exit of Tokyo Station that is home to many offices, police were still surrounding the scene nearly two hours after the incident.
Chie Matsutani, a woman in her 60s, said she was at a clinic in a nearby building when she felt the building shake.
¡°It was scary. It made me think I¡¯d have to be careful about where I walk. My heart wouldn¡¯t stop racing,¡± Matsutani said.
The building under construction is part of a joint venture between Obayashi Corp. and Taisei Corp., part of a large-scale redevelopment project that began in 2021 and is set to be completed in 2025.
According to the developers, the building will feature office floors, conference facilities for international meetings, theaters for hosting plays and concerts, medical facilities equipped to offer services in foreign languages, retail spaces and a large-scale terminal for highway buses.
In the event of a disaster, the bus terminal is slated to be used to transport supplies and the medical facilities will be involved in providing first aid, NHK reported.
A man in his 40s told the broadcaster that he¡¯d heard a thunder-like sound, and that when he looked over at the construction site he saw two people bleeding from their heads.
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