An explosion at a Shanghai supplier to Apple Inc injured 61 workers after aluminum dust produced by polishing cases for iPads ignited, China Labor Watch said.
The cause of the blast on Saturday at Ri Teng Computer Accessory (Shanghai) Co (日騰電腦配件), owned by Taipei-based Pegatron Corp (和碩), was similar to that of an accident at a Foxconn Technology Group (富士康) facility in May, according to an e-mailed statement from China Labor Watch.
Pegatron chief financial officer Charles Lin (林秋炭) did not immediately return calls to his office seeking comment.
Foxconn, the biggest contract manufacturer for Apple, said in May “combustible dust” probably caused the May 20 accident at its factory in Chengdu, when three workers died and 15 were injured.
Pegatron said on Sunday that some employees injured in the explosion the previous day were hospitalized, without providing details about the accident.
“We are working closely with Pegatron to understand the cause of this accident,” Carolyn Wu, a spokesperson for Apple in China, said by telephone yesterday.
“Our hearts go out to the people who were hurt in Songjiang,” she said, declining to elaborate.
Local authorities in the Songjiang area have started investigating the accident at Ri Teng, the Shanghai city government said in a posting on the Sina Weibo microblogging service on Saturday.
Pegatron shares fell 1 percent to close at NT$31.30 in Taipei trading yesterday, compared with a 0.4 percent gain on the benchmark TAIEX.
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