A falling piece of scaffolding narrowly missed pedestrians outside a subway station in Massachusetts.

The 8 ft (3m) by 2ft (1m) plank plunged from the One Financial Centre building and almost crashed into a commuter in Boston on November 8.

CCTV footage shows the wooden board heading straight for a walker who was holding a bag but he dodged it successfully.

The accident sparked panic among other walkers, who backed away while the pedestrian behind the man, Zoe Eisenstein, fled the scene.

Zoe said: 'I kind of jumped out of the way but then I saw it next to me.

'My mom was just like, ‘Zoe, you could have died.' And that's when it hit me, like oh my God.'

Zoe said the bystanders were in shock moments after.

She added: 'I quickly left the scene and called an Uber to take me somewhere safe.'

The building administration later took responsibility for the plank, confirming that a contractor installed it, but it has since been removed due to the incident.

Mayor Michelle Wu said the incident is being investigated for potential safety violations.