MEXICO CITY — The collapse in central Mexico of a 50-foot (15-meter) tall section of scaffolding on a road project killed five workers and injured three, officials said Sunday.

The workers were pouring cement into a huge form on what appeared to be a highway retaining wall, when the form and the scaffolding gave way Saturday, plunging the workers to their deaths in a tangle of metal and wet cement.

The Transportation Department said the accident happened in the central state of Hidalgo, and that all personnel on the site had been pulled from the rubble.

The structure was being built by a private contractor, and investigations were underway into the cause of the collapse.

Work site safety is generally weak in Mexico.