Three workers die at Tata's Apple iPhone components factory in Tamil Nadu: Report

Three workers died of asphyxiation during water tank maintenance work at a Tata facility manufacturing components for Apple iPhones in Tamil Nadu, sources in the know of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The three contract workers died while carrying out cleaning and maintenance work inside a nano-filtration feed tank at Tata Electronics Private Limited near Uddanapalli in Krishnagiri district on Monday evening, The New Indian Express reported. Preliminary enquiries suggest that they may have inhaled toxic gas while checking the tank, the report said.

ET Online couldn't independently verify the details reported by the two publications.


Apple is set to investigate the incident at the Tata Electronics plant, according to a Reuters' source.

The incident, however, has had no impact on production at the facility, owing to the plant being shut on account of festive holidays.

The workers were reportedly part of a team engaged in cleaning the facility's Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) at Vanniyapuram near Uddanapalli. The district administration was investigating the incident and proper safety measures had not been in place while the workers were handling the ETP.

According to the TNIE report, one worker fainted after looking inside the tank and inhaling gas. Two other workers subsequently entered the tank to check on him and also collapsed. A fourth member of the team, who witnessed the incident, alerted others for help.

All three workers were rescued and taken to a private hospital in Hosur, where they were declared brought dead, it added.

The workers were employed by a contractor engaged by Nalco for maintenance work on the water filtration tank. Their bodies were sent to the Government Krishnagiri Medical College Hospital for postmortem examinations.

Police said preliminary enquiries pointed to possible toxic gas inhalation, but the exact cause of death would be established after the final postmortem report.