Two workers lost their lives, and three others sustained injuries on Tuesday while installing steel beams on the seventh floor of a building under construction near JR Tokyo Station, according to police officials.
Fire and rescue authorities received an emergency call at around 9:20 a.m. regarding the accident.
Police later stated that the five male workers fell to the structure’s third floor after the 15-ton beam they were trying to install by crane came loose.
The two workers who died were found under the fallen beam. One of the three who were injured had initially been in critical condition but later regained consciousness, the police said.
The other two suffered injuries and were also taken to the hospital, but their conditions were not life-threatening, they said.
The police believe that multiple beams fell in the incident.
The construction site is located in a business district about 350 meters southeast of JR Tokyo Station.
According to sources, including the land ministry, a joint venture of general contractors Obayashi Corp and Taisei Corp has been constructing a 51-floor building that will house a medical facility and a bus terminal, among others, at the site.
People near the site when the incident occurred said they heard a thunderous noise and felt earthquake-like shocks.
There have been several fatal accidents at construction sites in Japan in recent years, including one involving a bridge girder falling from a raised platform in Shizuoka, central Japan, in July, which left two people dead and six others injured.
