Apple investigates exploin @ iPad factory in China

Apple investigates explosion at iPad factory in
China
Local reports said the explosion happened in the
building where Foxconn keeps the iPad 2 production
line.
Photo: GETTY
By Amanda Andrews, Media Editor
Last Updated: 11:11AM BST 21/05/2011
Apple could face pressure to review its position in
China after two people died in an explosion at the
Chinese factory which produces the iPad 2.
The explosion rocked Foxconn's Chengdu
manufacturing facility late yesterday. Local reports
said it happened in the building where Foxconn keeps
the iPad 2 production line.
Foxconn, best known as a supplier of Apple’s iPhone
and iPad, has already come under pressure in the past
18 months, after more than 13 factory workers
committed suicide. Critics say the company ’s
employees are subjected to harsh working conditions,
long hours and low pay.
“We are working closely with Foxconn at this point to
understand what caused this terrible event,” said
Steve Dowling, a spokesman for California-based
Apple. “We are deeply saddened by the tragedy."
The explosion is understood to have hit the polishing
plant, which is at the end of the assembly process.
Foxconn representatives have confirmed two deaths
and 16 injuries from the incident, with three of the
injuries reported as serious.
The $2bn (£1.2bn) laptop-producing plant where the
explosion took place opened in October.
According to Chinese reports, police in Chengdu said
their preliminary conclusion was that the explosion
wasn ’t caused intentionally.
Foxconn is the world's largest maker of computer
components and produces items for Apple, Dell,
Hewlett-Packard,Sony and Nokia. It employs about 1m
people in China, about half of them based in its main
facility in the southern city of Shenzhen.
Foxconn has been expanding its workforce into other
parts of China as it seeks to scale back the size of its
Shenzhen plant.