A Foxconn plant has been closed following a riot that apparently took place at the facility late on Sunday. Engadget reports that the incident went down at the Taiyuan plant, the same site as the March salary strike that saw staff stop working and demand a pay raise.
The reason for the riot is not immediately clear. Engadget points to unofficial news reports that say the whole thing was started as a result of security guards hitting a worker at 10 p.m. Sunday. Indeed, Reuters cites an unconfirmed report on Sina Weibo that claims four or five guards beat a worker 'almost to death'. Another post claims guards beat up two workers from Henan province. However, despite these reports, Foxconn told Reuters in a statement that the incident that triggered the riot involved only employees. Foxconn said it was a result of a personal dispute between employees. What's more, the component manufacturer said the dispute was not work-related. A senior official from the Taiyuan city government is quoted by the Xinhua news agency as saying employees from Shandong Province clashed with staff from Henan Province and sparked the riot.
Whatever the reason, it was enough to close the plant down. Reports indicate that 5,000 police were on site to break up the mayhem. Though Foxconn hasn't said how long the plant will stay closed, an employee told Reuters that the company would be closed for up to three days. The Taiyuan plant employs almost 80,000 people.
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