Tata iPhone component factory destroyed by fire, 10 receive medical aid By Reuters

By Haripriya Suresh and Praveen Paramasivam

HOSUR, India (Reuters) – At least 10 people received medical treatment, two of them hospitalized, after a major fire disrupted production at a key Tata Electronics factory in southern India on Saturday that makes Apple (NASDAQ:) components. iPhone.

The incident is the latest to affect Apple’s iPhone supply chain as the company looks to diversify beyond China and sees India as a key growth market. It is also the latest in a string of incidents that have plagued Apple suppliers in India in recent years.

The fire broke out at the factory in the city of Hosur in the state of Tamil Nadu that produces some components for the iPhone. It broke out next to another building inside the Tata complex, which in the coming months will turn out to be full iPhones.

The fire was confined to one building and was completely doused, said district administrative official KM Sarayu. No decision has been made on when production can resume, she said.

“Boats are still coming because it is a chemical hazard. It will take time for the search and rescue team to go in and do an assessment. We have to wait until tomorrow,” she added.

Sarayu said 523 workers were on shift when the fire broke out early in the morning and all workers were evacuated and accounted for.

Savitri, an eyewitness who lives near the factory and gave only her first name, said she heard “loud sounds around 5.30am (midnight GMT) that sounded like crackers going off. After that I only saw plumes of smoke from the building and there was thick smoke there until at least 10am.”

EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS

Tata Electronics is one of the leading contract manufacturers of iPhones in India, along with Foxconn. The company said it is investigating the cause of the fire and will take the necessary steps to protect employees and other stakeholders.

“Our factory emergency protocols have ensured that all employees are safe,” a Tata Electronics spokesperson said.

J. Saravanan, a senior district official in charge of industrial safety management, said it was not yet possible to say when production would resume at the unit as “we will have to go in to understand more depending on the damage”.

He said the injuries were all related to smoke inhalation, but gave no further details.

Production was halted and employees were sent home for the day after the fire, a person with direct knowledge of the incident said earlier, describing the fire as chemical-related.

A second industry source said it was not yet clear whether a neighboring building where smartphone production was supposed to begin by the end of the year was affected.

With the facility inaccessible at this time, the source said, an assessment of the fire damage will have to be done later.

Apple had no immediate comment on the incident.

The fire started in an area used to store chemicals, a fire official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Last year, Apple supplier Foxlink halted production at its assembly facility in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh after a massive fire caused part of the building to collapse.