The Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department said the body was retrieved from the scaffolding half an hour after the rescue operation began at 2.15am.

Its director, Nordin Pauzi, said the construction beams had to be carefully stabilised before the rescuers could lift the crane trapping the victim underneath.

In a statement, he added that the body had been handed over to the police.

Two other workers fell to their death after the launcher crane toppled over, crushing a car underneath, at the construction site near the Puncak Banyan Condominium, Cheras, on Monday morning. They died at the scene.

All three workers were Chinese nationals.

The driver of the car was seriously injured as steel from the crane crushed the vehicle.

A stop-work order has been issued pending an investigation.