Apple supplier Foxlink's fire safety systems mostly faulty, official says
Much of the fire safety equipment at Apple supplier Foxlink's facility in southern India was not functional, a government official told Reuters on Tuesday, a day after a blaze halted production at the maker of iPhone charging cables.
The factory is located in the Chittoor district of India's Andhra Pradesh state and is unlikely to resume full operations for two months, raising supply chain concerns for the U.S. tech giant, Reuters reported earlier in the day.
Foxlink was engulfed in a massive fire on Monday that led part of the building to collapse, but there were no casualties.
Except for fire extinguishers, safety systems such as smoke detectors, sprinklers and fire hydrants were faulty, leading to a slower response in containing the fire, said J Ramanaiah, who leads the Fire Services Department in the region.
"The smoke detector was not activated and fire alarms didn't go off," Ramanaiah added.
Apple and Foxlink did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
The regional fire department will submit a report on the incident to state authorities, which will decide whether to investigate the matter further, said Shuvana Sony, zone manager of the industrial park where the plant is located.
Sony added her previous visits to the plant had shown no safety lapses at the facility.
Some Apple representatives visited the facility for meetings on Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the matter, although what was discussed was not clear.
Foxlink operates a total of 10 assembly lines in two separate facilities at the plant in Andhra, of which four were completely destroyed, one source with knowledge of the situation said. Production at the remaining six
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