A construction accident claimed a man’s life at a shopping mall west of Toronto on Monday, leaving his surviving co-workers shaken over what they had witnessed.

The incident happened late Monday morning at the Sheridan Centre, on a new section of the mall under construction and where a Target store is supposed to open later this year.

Peel Regional Police say the 33-year-old male victim was trapped beneath a portion of the steel structure that collapsed.

Emergency responders struggled for about an hour to free the trapped worker, but they were unable to save him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A large metal structure can be seen in the background of the Sheridan Mall construction site. (David Donnelly/CBC)

Construction worker Rob Rowe was working Monday and watched the terrible accident unfold.

"I couldn’t believe I was here to see something like that…it’s almost unbelievable," he told reporters.

Jesse Willard, an ironworker, said that precautions are taken to keep job sites as safe as possible, but the dangers persist for a serious incident of this sort.

"When something goes wrong, guys don’t get kind-of hurt," he told reporters.

Willard said the victim was a good man and a hard worker.

Late Monday afternoon, the victim’s body was removed from the scene by the coroner.

The cause of the accident is not yet known.

Two inspectors and an engineer from the Ministry of Labour were at the scene on Monday and due to return there tomorrow.