Food Poisoning Incident: iPhone Maker Foxconn's Unit Near Chennai Extends Closure

Apple iPhone supplier Foxconn's unit on the outskirts of Chennai will stay shut for an extra three days after protests broke out following a food poisoning incident last week.

iPhone Maker Foxconn's Unit Near Chennai Extends Closure/Getty

New Delhi: Apple iPhone supplier Foxconn's unit on the outskirts of Chennai will stay shut for an extra three days after protests broke out following a food poisoning incident last week, the media has reported. The factory has extended a week-long closure by three days after several workers working at the unit were arrested and later released for staging a protest against a food poisoning incident.

According to a report by news agency Reuters, the factory, which employs some 17,000 people, had been due to resume some operations on Monday but is now expected to restart production with 1,000 workers on Thursday, a police official said. The worker's hostels are also being checked, the report added.

The food poisoning incident took place at Foxconn’s dormitories in Sriperumbudur, on the outskirts of Chennai, where more than 150 of its workers were hospitalised and 256 others were treated as out-patients. According to media reports, there was an outbreak of an acute diarrhoeal disease at Foxconn's hostel that gave way to the hospitalisation of the workers.

Foxconn is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer that manufactures for Apple and over 150 employees at its production unit were hospitalised following an incident of food poisoning at its dormitories, where most of its employees live.

It was not immediately clear if production at the unit was disrupted by the protests sparked by last week's food poisoning incident that led to 150 employees being admitted to hospital, according to a previous report by news agency Reuters. Another report suggests that except for one worker, all others have been discharged from the hospital following the food poisoning incident.