The death toll in Monday's construction site accident in central Beijing rose to eight as of Friday, police sources said.

The accident took place at about 10:10 p.m. Monday at the construction site with the multi-purpose building of the Xixi Project being built near Xidan, one of the bustling business areas in downtown Beijing.

About 20 peasant-turned migrant workers were still lingering at the site on Friday.

"I worked at the construction site. I feel so sad that some of my friends and fellow villagers were killed in the accident," said a 38-year-old migrant worker surnamed Wang from Sichuan Province, looking miserably at the building under construction.

Altogether 47 workers were at work when a scaffolding collapsed from a height of about 20 meters during a concrete pouring process, said an official with the rescue operation headquarters.

Three workers were killed on the spot, 22 others injured, and four missing. One of the injured died in the hospital. Rescuers later found the remains of two more workers from the debris at the construction site on Tuesday afternoon and then the other two in the following days.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2005)