The International Commerce Centre (ICC) is pictured following an accident in Hong Kong September 13, 2009. [Agencies]
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HONG KONG: Six workers died Sunday in a fall down an elevator shaft of a skyscraper under construction in Hong Kong, police said.
The accident happened at the International Commerce Center in the Kowloon district, which will be 118 stories high when completed next year, making it one of the tallest buildings in world, as well as the tallest in Hong Kong.
Speaking at the scene, Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang said the men fell after a working platform collapsed in the elevator shaft.
Rescuers rushed to the scene after the lift carrying six cleaners fell suddenly from the 30th floor to the 10th floor at around 1:00 pm.
The rescue ended six hours later but unfortunately all the workers were found dead, Hong Kong's public broadcastor RTHK said.
The building's developer, major Hong Kong property firm Sun Hung Kai, has agreed to pay each of the victims' families HK$1 million ($128,000) on top of normal compensation payments, Hong Kong labor secretary Matthew Cheung told local media.