Explosion at Pegatron subsidiary leaves several injured, with 23 hospitalized [atualizado]

Pegatron LogoTHE Reuters reported today that a Pegatron subsidiary in Shanghai (China) caught fire. According to Charles Lin, CFO of Apple's partner company, the unit was still under construction, partially operating. About 61 employees were injured, with 23 of them being hospitalized.

The explosion, which happened on Saturday, was allegedly caused by a gas used in the manufacture of metal chassis for computers. Such a unit was being expanded to compete with Catcher Technology and Foxconn in the production of metal housings that are widely used in MacBooks and the object of desire in the PC industry (Ultrabooks) as a whole.

Apple is aware of the problem: “Our hearts are with the people who were injured in Songjiang. We are working closely with Pegatron to understand the causes of this accident, ”said spokeswoman Carolyn Wu.

This is the third time in the year that an Apple partner factory has caught fire. The first occurred in May, while the second, in September, both units were owned by Taiwanese Foxconn.

(via AppleInsider)

Update, by Halex Pereira

Preliminary analyzes from China Labor Watch indicate that a possible cause for this explosion would be the accumulation of aluminum powder in the iPad case polishing workshop. That would also have been the cause of the explosion at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu in May.

(via 9to5Mac)