A section of scaffolding collapsed at a high-rise construction project in downtown Raleigh , killing three people and sending another to a hospital , officials said Monday . Jeffrey Hammerstein , a district chief at Wake County EMS , said three people were confirmed dead in the accident at the glass and steel building called Charter Square , where scaffolding had peeled away from the exterior and fallen into a parking lot below . Authorities said they were working to identify those who died . The fourth worker was reported to have suffered serious injuries . Prayers : Construction workers gather outside the scene where a section of scaffolding collapsed at a high-rise construction project , killing three people and sending another to a hospital on Monday . All were involved in the construction project , Hammerstein said . Peter Thurston was working inside the building installing a security card reader system when the accident happened . He said he ran outside to try to help and saw three men in safety harnesses , leading him to believe that they had been attached to the scaffolding . 'It was just a loud crash and a huge cloud of smoke , ' said Thurston , 32 , of Garner . ' I noticed three of the guys and it looked like they were dead . ... That could have been anybody . That could have been me . ' He said a fourth man wearing a safety harness was found inside a nearby portable toilet . He was still breathing and had a pulse , but was barely responsive , Thurston said . It was not immediately clear if the injured man had fallen into the toilet or had been sitting inside when the collapse occurred . Towering : A section of scaffolding framework hangs from the side of the Charter Square building after Monday 's accident which left three dead . The scaffolding that fell was attached to the side of the new building that allowed it to travel up and down . One of the tracks had snapped off several stories up and fallen into a twisted heap on the ground below . State Department of Labor spokesman Neal O'Briant said Monday that his agency is investigating the cause . Officials had closed off a wide area around the scene . A group of men in hard hats and yellow vests , some of which said Associated Scaffolding on them , were talking to an official near the edge of the police line . A woman who answered the phone at the company 's Durham headquarters declined to give her name and said the company had no comment . According to the state Department of Labor , the construction industry accounts for nearly half of all workplace fatalities in the state , with 19 deaths at construction sites reported in 2014 . Smashed : A section of scaffolding protrudes from a shattered window at the scene of a construction accident in Raleigh , North Carolina .
Men were working on the scaffolding were thrown clear of their harnesses . three were found in parking lot at bottom of Raleigh construction site . Another man was found in a portable toilet breathing but seriously injured . It was clear if the injured man had fallen into the toilet or had been sitting when the accident occurred .