Turkish riot police on Sunday fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters in Istanbul, a day after 10 workers were killed when a lift crashed to the ground from the 32nd storey of a building.

Police stepped in when more than 1,000 people gathered near the construction site in Istanbul's upscale Mecidiyekoy district to express their anger at Turkey's lax workplace safety measures, an AFP photographer at the scene reported.

"I lost my two sons," said father-of-six Mithat Kara, as he sat in tears at the side of the construction site.

"This is not an accident, this is not a destiny, this is murder!" the crowd shouted, at the first major confrontation between demonstrators and the authorities since Recep Tayyip Erdogan was inaugurated as president last month.

The elevator dropped down the shaft and crashed into the ground at a construction site in Istanbul's central Mecidiyekoy neighbourhood, killing 10 workers on Saturday evening.

"Ten workers have been confirmed killed in the crash," said Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu after the accident.

Mecidiyeköy'de İş Cinayeti: Torun Center İnşaatında Asansör Düştü, 6 İşçi Hayatını Kaybetti http://t.co/hp4BpHhYKu pic.twitter.com/vnuoT8hJ3U — Başka Haber (@baskahaber) September 6, 2014

Mutlu said the elevator dropped down 32 stories. The exact cause of the accident was yet to be known.

He said eight people have been detained in relation with the incident. "An investigation is underway, and the number of those in custody might increase."

Labour and Social Security Minister Faruk Celik said the accident happened after a freight elevator used to carry construction materials slipped off its rails, with workers and building materials crashing to the ground.

"We will go after (the guilty people) if there is any negligence or shortcoming," he was quoted as saying by Turkish media.

But the opposition ratcheted up pressure on the government, pledging to improve work safety conditions.

It also comes just four months after Turkey's worst mining disaster in history with more than 300 people dying after an explosion in a coal mine in Soma.

The disaster provoked angry protests over lax safety conditions and a cold reaction of former Prime Minister Erdogan to the deaths.

"Work accidents have turned into work murders," said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

"The CHP will settle account at every platform. We will take initiative so that inspections will not be merely on paper."

The building's owner Aziz Torun denied any responsibility, as well as the possibility of a technical problem with the elevator.

"Authorities and the prosecutor will decide" what caused the accident, he told a press conference.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the workers' deaths "very painful and very saddening".

"The investigation will be carried out in detail," he told reporters on Sunday.

Turkey ranks first in Europe and third in the world for fatal work accidents, according to the International Labor Organization.

The ILO says 18 out of 100,000 insured Turkish labourers die every year in work accidents, seven times greater than the EU average of 2.5.