Employees of Foxconn iPhone factory in India hospitalised with food poisoning - report

Hundreds of workers staged a protest following rumours of death of colleagues

(Screengrab/@kalpanama11)

A few employees of Foxconn, the manufacturer of Apple iPhones and Amazon Firestick, were hospitalised with food poisoning in a southern Indian state, leading to a sit-in protest by their colleagues on Saturday, according to reports.

The workers of the Taiwan-based factory in Sriperumbudur town of Tamil Nadu were hospitalised earlier this week, a source told Reuters news agency. However, additional details of their condition are unknown.

The incident sparked protests by hundreds of women workers of the factory who blocked the Chennai-Bengaluru national highway at Sriperumbudur town, which is in the outskirts of the city.

The demonstrators demanded answers about the well being of their colleagues from the company officials after a rumour spread that one of the women who had taken ill died at the hospital, reported The Hindu.

The protesters alleged that the management of the factory did not give them answers when they approached them to know about their sick colleagues.

Four women workers were hospitalised following a bout of food poisoning at one of the dormitories of Foxconn in Tiruvallur district three days ago. But they were later discharged, it reported.

The officials said the news of a woman’s death was “totally false.”

The protests began on Friday night and continued till Saturday as workers staged demonstrations.

The district and labour department officials held talks with the protesters to dispel the rumours but managed to disperse just some of the people at the sit-in.

“Some have dispersed, some are still there. Kancheepuram Collector is also there on the spot,” officials told the newspaper.

Foxconn has not issued a statement over the allegations. The Independent has reached out to company for comment.

Foxconn Technology Group is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer headquartered in Tucheng, New Taipei City. It is known as Hon Hai Precision Industry in Taiwan with majority of factories located in East Asia and others in Brazil, India, Europe, and Mexico.