A man died after falling from the seventh floor of the construction site for the new GW residence hall on F Street this afternoon.

At about 1:35 p.m., a man working for ECP, a window sub-contractor, fell while installing a window on the seventh floor of the building, said University spokeswoman Tracy Schario. D.C. Fire/EMS Spokesperson Alan Etter said the man was killed instantly.

Schario and police said the man lost his balance.

Clark Construction, the primary contractor, stopped work on the building pending an investigation. Metropolitan Police Department Commander Andy Solberg said the body would remain at the scene until the Occupational Health and Safety Association arrived.

Schario said she could not release the man’s name without the family’s approval, adding that he is about 46 years old and had several children. Etter said he could not specify an exact age because of the condition of the body. “Anything where you can look at someone, and tell how old they are, is destroyed,” Etter said.

Sophomore Lorraine McDonald, a second-floor resident of Guthridge Hall, said she saw a silver metal box fall from one of the upper floors of the building at some point between 1:30 and 2 p.m. McDonald then heard a scream coming from the construction site.

“Really until there’s a full investigation it’s premature to speculate the cause of the accident,” Schario said.

–Nathan Grossman contributed to this report.