Chengdu Explosion Kills Three, Foxconn and Apple Now Investigating 'Root' Cause

Foxconn has officially confirmed that three employees have lost their lives in the tragic accident occurring Friday, May 20, at the company’s Hongfujin Precision Electronics (Chengdu) Co. Ltd. facility in Chengdu.

Around 7:00 PM local time, a polishing workshop at the Chengdu factory, which was confirmed as one of the iPad 2 production lines, experienced an explosion in a duct carrying combustible dust.

“Fifteen other employees were injured in that accident and six of those employees have been treated and released from the hospital,” Foxconn said in its official statement.

The company is now working closely with medical professionals, as well as with the local government, “to ensure that all of the injured employees receive the highest quality medical treatment.”

“Our condolences go out to the families of the deceased employees and they are being given the full support of the company,” the company said. “Our thoughts are also with the injured employees and their families who are also being given the full support of our company at this very difficult time.”

A joint investigation task force led by government officials and law enforcement authorities is looking into the main cause of the tragic accident.

Initial findings suggest “the accident was caused by an explosion of combustible dust in a duct,” Foxconn officials said.

“Foxconn is cooperating fully with all relevant government bodies to carry out a full investigation into the specific root cause of the accident and the company is taking all necessary actions to ensure the safety of employees at this and all other production facilities,” the electronics company added.

Production at all other workshops that carry out similar tasks have been halted as investigators try to pinpoint the root cause of the accident.

All operations at the affected workshop remain suspended, while all other production operations in Foxconn’s multiple facilities across China are operating normally at the moment.

A major client of Foxconn, Apple Inc. provided a statement as well, following Friday's tragic events in China.

The Cupertino tech giant 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.”