Cause of explosion may be due to dust explosion on production line, say reports
At least two people are dead and more than 10 injured following an explosion at a factory run by electronics giant Foxconn, which makes phones and tablets for Apple and other electronics companies.
Police said the deaths occurred following an explosion at the company's plant in Chengdu, south-west China.
A spokesman for the company said people had been injured in a fire at the plant but that it had no details. The company is best-known for producing iPhones and iPads for Apple, but other clients include Nokia, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard and Dell. Employing up to 900,000 people in all, Foxconn has repeatedly been the subject of controversy over working conditions at its vast plants. The affected one is believed to employ up to 100,000 people.
A report on Chinese news portal Sina said the area had been sealed off after a blast ripped through the plant at around the time workers changed shifts. Police in Gaoxin district said they were called to the scene at 7.18pm and that the explosion seemed to have been caused by materials within the factory. A report on the China National Radio website said two were killed and 16 injured, three seriously.
Edmund Ding, a spokesman for Foxconn's parent company Hon Hai, told the Guardian: "I know there has been a fire and that the accident is now under control. What caused this is still under investigation. I have learned that some people were injured on site."
He said that emergency services had quickly got the situation under control following the incident at around 7.30pm, but that further details were not available at present.
One report suggested that there could have been a dust explosion as fine powder used in manufacturing ignited somehow. Suggestions the affected building is involved in the manufacture of Apple's iPad 2 tablets could not be confirmed.
In a statement, Apple said: "We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at Foxconn's plant in Chengdu, and our hearts go out to the victims and their families. We are working closely with Foxconn to understand what caused this terrible event."
Footage said to be from the scene and posted on Friday evening on the Chinese video-sharing site Youku showed black smoke billowing from the side of a large building. Foxconn's factories are huge complexes compared by some to towns, with their own facilities and tens or hundreds of thousands of staff. Chinese media reports said the plant, which opened last year in the city's high-technology zone, cost between $2bn (�1.2bn) and $5bn to build. At the time, Foxconn promised to hire 100,000 workers, but it is not clear how many people have been taken on.
Although the company does not discuss clients, the Sichuan News Network and Chengdu Economic Daily said recently that the facility was producing 1.2m iPads monthly.
Foxconn came under intense scrutiny last year after a string of suicides by workers at their plant in Shenzhen, southern China.
? Additional research by Han Cheng and Charles Arthur
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/may/20/foxconn-apple-blast-china
No comments:
Post a Comment