Authorities say it is extremely lucky nobody was hurt after a massive slab of concrete fell 17 metres from a Canberra construction site, crushing a toilet block and a parked car.
The owner of the Braddon smash repairers, Jeff Badcoe, was working in his office when he felt the ground shake outside his business late this morning.
He went out to discover a large concrete panel, like those adorning the facade of the building, had fallen several metres onto the toilet block used by his employees.
"There was quite a large bang out the back and, when we went out to have a look, a concrete slab had fallen off the building and gone through the toilet block and the back of a ute that was out there as well," he said.
"It sounded like a car accident to be honest.
"It shook the ground and made the building shake a bit.
"The toilet block that the boys use, probably 20 times a day, that's destroyed. [It] would have taken the pan out completely, so it's pretty severe."
Worksafe ACT halted construction at the Yamaroshi building site on 32 Mort Street, and emergency services closed the road between Cooyong and Eloura Streets.
Work Safety Commissioner Greg Jones said it was "very, very fortunate" no-one was injured.
"A pre-cast concrete panel, which was installed temporarily on the building has fallen," he said.
"The panel, weighing nearly four tonnes obviously could have had catastrophic consequences if it had have impacted anyone.
"It's very early days, Worksafe is just commencing its investigation.
"Today's incident was significant and could have easily been fatal."
Mr Badcoe said he did not know for how long his business would be affected.
"How long we are going to be off the air now, through no fault of our own, is a bit of a problem," he said.
"Everyone's going home this afternoon, it's just whether we've got a job to come back to tomorrow, who knows."
The builder, Chase, declined to comment.
