Hong Kong, Sep 13 (DPA) At least three workers were killed Sunday when a lift in Hong Kong's tallest skyscraper plunged 22 floors, emergency workers said.

The elevator in the 118-storey International Commerce Centre, which is still under construction, fell from the 30th floor to the eighth floor.

Workers inside the lift shaft were struck as the lift plunged, and several were pulled unconscious and rushed to hospital, according to government-run radio station RTHK.

Preliminary reports said at least three people were killed in the accident that occurred at around 1.20 p.m. Sunday, although it was not clear if they were inside the lift or working in the shaft.

The building in Hong Kong's West Kowloon district was cordoned off and investigators were probing the cause of the accident.

The 484-metre ICC Tower is due to open in 2010. It will be Hong Kong's tallest building and will have the third-highest roof in the world after Burj Dubai and the Shanghai World Financial Centre.

It is being jointly developed by Hong Kong's underground train operator MTR Corporation and Sun Hung Kai Properties, the city's largest property developer.