The scandal-hit factory where Apple makes its iPads faced a fresh probe today after an explosion ripped through the building killing two people.
A blast rocked a compound at the building in southwest China earlier this evening, sending dozens of workers fleeing into the streets as flames engulfed the electronics inside.
The fire is the latest disaster to hit the cursed Foxconn factory - dubbed Suicide Express - where a string of workers have killed themselves amid appalling working conditions.
Flames engulfed the damaged building was in the Sichuan capital Chengdu and was where the new iPad was being made.
Employees who were inside the building at the time said the explosion, which happened early this evening, seemed accidental.
The workers said that several hundred people were working in the building at the time of the blast.
Calls to the spokesman for the Chengdu fire brigade, who is on the scene, went unanswered.
This is the latest incident to hit the embattled Foxconn, after at least 13 of its employees died in apparent suicides last year, which activists blamed on tough working conditions.
Foxconn is the world's largest maker of computer components and produces items for Apple, Sony and Nokia. It employs about one million workers in China.
Foxconn employs 400,000 young people at the huge factory sprawl where Apple's worldbeating electronics are made.
When the iPad went on sale in America last month, sales exceeded all expectations, reaching one million units in 28 days - twice as fast as the iPhone and forcing Apple to delay the UK launch.
In the first three months of 2010, Apple sold nearly three million computers, 11 million iPods and nine million iPhones. It made £2billion ($2.89 billion) profit in the first quarter this year and is expected to take £41billion ($60billion) in sales.
Apple's Taiwanese subcontractor Foxconn has been operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to try to keep up with orders.
But the factory ran into controversy after a number of workers killed themselves after back-breaking shifts for the company.
Some blame the harsh working conditions imposed by Foxconn for the deaths - conditions first exposed four years ago by a Mail on Sunday article which prompted an investigation by Apple.
The company found there were 'a number of areas for improvement'.
Some blame a kind of mass hysteria spreading among the mostly young workers.
Others accuse modern China's spiritual void. And it has been pointed out that in communist China, suicide is considered a crime against the state, so it is the ultimate form of protest.
The deaths have become so regular that bloggers have nicknamed the factories in the city of Shenzhen the Foxconn Suicide Express, while managers have set up a suicide hotline and even hired monks to exorcise evil spirits.
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A blast rocked a compound at the building in southwest China earlier this evening, sending dozens of workers fleeing into the streets as flames engulfed the electronics inside.
The fire is the latest disaster to hit the cursed Foxconn factory - dubbed Suicide Express - where a string of workers have killed themselves amid appalling working conditions.
Disaster: Dark black smoke billows from the Foxconn building in the Sichuan capital Chengdu where the new iPad2 was being made
Employees who were inside the building at the time said the explosion, which happened early this evening, seemed accidental.
The workers said that several hundred people were working in the building at the time of the blast.
Calls to the spokesman for the Chengdu fire brigade, who is on the scene, went unanswered.
Emergency: A fire truck arrives at the scene of the explosion as stunned workers who were evacuated form the building lined the streets
Damage: Two people were killed in the explosion and 16 were injured. It is not yet know how many of the tablet computers have been destroyed in the fire
Foxconn is the world's largest maker of computer components and produces items for Apple, Sony and Nokia. It employs about one million workers in China.
Technology: Apple boss Steve Jobs shows off a iPad on stage. The devices were made at the factory
When the iPad went on sale in America last month, sales exceeded all expectations, reaching one million units in 28 days - twice as fast as the iPhone and forcing Apple to delay the UK launch.
In the first three months of 2010, Apple sold nearly three million computers, 11 million iPods and nine million iPhones. It made £2billion ($2.89 billion) profit in the first quarter this year and is expected to take £41billion ($60billion) in sales.
Apple's Taiwanese subcontractor Foxconn has been operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to try to keep up with orders.
But the factory ran into controversy after a number of workers killed themselves after back-breaking shifts for the company.
Some blame the harsh working conditions imposed by Foxconn for the deaths - conditions first exposed four years ago by a Mail on Sunday article which prompted an investigation by Apple.
The company found there were 'a number of areas for improvement'.
Some blame a kind of mass hysteria spreading among the mostly young workers.
Others accuse modern China's spiritual void. And it has been pointed out that in communist China, suicide is considered a crime against the state, so it is the ultimate form of protest.
The deaths have become so regular that bloggers have nicknamed the factories in the city of Shenzhen the Foxconn Suicide Express, while managers have set up a suicide hotline and even hired monks to exorcise evil spirits.
Earn upto Rs. 9,000 pm checking Emails. Join now!
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