Three workers die of suffocation at iPhone parts factory in India

Three contract workers have died after apparently inhaling toxic gas while cleaning a wastewater treatment tank at a factory supplying components for Apple’s iPhones in southern India.

The workers, aged between 25 and 32, collapsed while carrying out maintenance work at Tata Electronics’ Marigold facility in Vanniyapuram, in Krishnagiri district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Naduon Monday evening, according to the New Indian Express.

The incident occurred at about 5.10pm while a team was cleaning a nano-filtration feed tank, which receives wastewater from another part of the factory. According to Krishnagiri district collector C Dinesh Kumar, one of the men looked inside the tank to inspect it, but is suspected of fainting after inhaling gas.

The second and third workers collapsed one after the other, as they went in to check on their teammates.

A fourth worker who witnessed what happened raised the alarm.

All three men were rescued and taken to a private hospital in Hosur, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.

Their bodies were sent to the Government Medical College Hospital in Krishnagiri for post-mortem examinations.

Police have said preliminary enquiries point to possible toxic gas inhalation, but the cause of death has yet to be confirmed by the post-mortem findings.

“There were no proper safety measures in place while handling the ETP. The district administration is inquiring into the incident,” Kumar said.

The district administration has directed Tata Electronics to review the safety compliance of the agencies responsible for maintaining the treatment plant and submit a detailed Action Taken Report.

Officials from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health are inspecting the site, focusing on confined-space entry, gas monitoring, protective equipment, and emergency rescue arrangements.

The maintenance work had been entrusted to Nalco Water International, which engaged Permacorp to provide the workers, according to The Economic Times. Nalco Water is part of the US-based company Ecolab.

In a statement to The IndependentEcolab’s head of corporate communications Anupama Bhardwaj confirmed that the three workers had been engaged by a subcontractor of Nalco Water, and that they were “working with the local authorities in the investigation of this incident”.

“This incident occurred in a utility facility, operated by Nalco Water. We are working with the local authorities in the investigation of this incident,” she said.

The effluent treatment plant will be allowed to resume operations only after authorities verify that the required safety measures are in place.

Apple, Tata, and state authorities will investigate the deaths, state officials and two industry sources with direct knowledge told Reuters.

“The safety and dignity of every worker must remain paramount. This tragic incident will be thoroughly investigated, and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings,” Tamil Nadu’s industries minister Virudhai Magal Keerthana said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday.

The Independent has reached out to Apple for comment.

The plant makes components for Apple’s iPhoneswhile a separate facility in the same compound assembles finished phones. Tata accounts for about 40 per cent of iPhone assembly in India, with Foxconn handling the remainder.

India now produces roughly a quarter of the world’s iPhones as Apple expands manufacturing beyond China.

In September 2024, a blaze broke out at a chemical storage facility within Tata Electronics’ Hosur manufacturing complex near Ullukurukkai village. Eleven people suffered respiratory complications after inhaling fumes and were taken to a private hospital, with three admitted for treatment and the remaining eight treated as outpatients. All 523 workers on the premises were evacuated, according to then Krishnagiri collector KM Sarayu.