Foxconn's iPad polishing plants closed but won't affect production?

Summary: Update from Foxconn on death toll and iPad 2 production; media blackout on accident in China but not Taiwan where Foxconn is based.

According to Bloomberg News, Foxconn does not foresee any delays on iPad 2 production after last Friday's explosion at the Chengdu factory and subsequent shut down of its case polishing facilities in China because it "has a week of inventory."

In a new statement concerning the blast that took place last week, Foxconn has confirmed three people were killed and 15 injured, with 9 still in hospital. Preliminary findings on the cause of the accident are pointing to "an explosion of combustible dust in a duct" in the case polishing department but further investigation are necessary. As a result, all of Foxconn's case polishing operations (in both Chengdu and Shenzhen factories) have been halted, but other parts of the plants are "operating normally."

According to MIC Gadgets, there are barricades set up outside the damaged facility; the police manning the blockade apparently crushed and split in half a video camera, and confiscated a photo camera from Xinhua News reporters. The Taiwanese press, on the other hand, has been able to provide coverage without intrusion from Chinese officials. The media blackout in China on this accident has meant that some family members of the workers at the Chengdu factory still have not been able to reach their loved ones, while workers who survived the accident seem reluctant to share their experiences.

I find it hard to believe production won't be affected by this accident and on-going investigation but this is the official word so you can come to your own conclusions.

[Source: MIC Gadgets, Bloomberg News and AllThingsD]

Topics: China, iPad, Tablets

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7 comments
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  • Capital punishment should wait the managers who responsible for climate ...

    regulation in the building. I mean it is absolutely outrageous that people were killed and made disabled forever because of this trivial safety failure.
    DDERSSS
    • All the regulations don't matter if bribery is common place. [nt]

      [nt]
      olePigeon
      • Yet 200 years of prison to each responsible would be medicine

        @olePigeon
        DDERSSS
  • Sad

    How many people have to die so that you can have your shiny iToys?
    Tim Patterson
    • Stupid comment

      @Tim Patterson
      Millions of people use products every day whose manufacture kills and mains people. Do you use anything that requires coal, oil or natural gas? People get killed producing them. Have you ever given, or found someone that would take from you, a diamond? Those miners get killed. Do you live in a house (yes, your mom's basement counts)? Construction workers have a high mortality rate.

      For you, an obvious Apple hater , to try to make someone's preference for superior electronic gear seem to be the cause in some twisted way for some poor workers death is moronic and self serving. But I wouldnt expect anything less from some of the posters to these boards.
      ShazAmerica
    • How many must die so you may eat?

      Stop being silly. Humans do not know how to do anything perfectly. Last year there was explosion in a food factory in the UK. A <i>food factory</i>, for goodness sakes. If we ask you, will you tell us that people should just stop eating?
      Robert Hahn
    • RE: Foxconn's iPad polishing plants closed but won't affect production?

      @Tim Patterson
      And yet white baking flour can be just as explosive. Look it up and you?ll see that more people died in the US last year from dust explosions than the ones that dies in this factory.
      Rick_K