Three contract workers die at Apple's Tata-linked iPhone plant in Tamil Nadu

Three contract workers have died at a Tata electronics factory, which makes parts for Apple iPhones in Tamil Nadu. The deaths were reported late Monday. According to officials, workers died while cleaning a wastewater plant on November 9, during the Diwali Holiday. They have been identified as M Sarathikumar, B Akmal and P Kaveri. The police said that the cause of death will be examined after post-mortem examinations.

According to the office of the District Commissioner of Krishnagiri district, the three men were part of a four-person maintenance crew. B Akmal fainted after looking into a nano-filtration feed tank; he was the first to collapse. Sarathikumar and Kaveri, who went in to check on him, also collapsed. A fourth worker called for help; they were then taken to a private hospital in Hosur and declared dead on arrival.

The effluent treatment plant was operated by Nalco Water, which is part of U.S.-headquartered Ecolab. Tamil Nadu's industries minister said the incident will be thoroughly investigated and action taken based on the findings. The Krishnagiri district collector has raised concerns over safety arrangements at the plant. Police have also opened an investigation, and the bodies were sent for post-mortem. Tata Electronics, Apple and Nalco Water did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Previous incidents at Hosur facility

The salt-to-aviation Tata Group's electronics unit accounts for roughly 40% of iPhone assembly in India, as iPhone seeks to diversify its value chain. The plant, in Vanniyapuram near Uddanapalli, performs one of the more demanding jobs in Apple’s effort to make more of its phones outside China. In July, 2026, a ransomware attack at the Hosur plant resulted in 200,000 files being stolen from the iPhone plant. In June, Tata's Hosur iPhone plant was warned of a forced shutdown over wastewater contamination to nearby farmlands. Tata claimed compliance with regulatory norms and was later cleared. In September 2024, a fire broke out at the Hosur plant that halted construction for days.

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High-profile incidents linked to Apple supply chain

This is the latest incident involving supply chain fatalities at facilities linked to US-based Apple. A Foxconn facility in China had been at the centre of global attention following a string of worker suicides at its factories in Shenzhen, and reports counted 18 suicides by 2012. Reports suggested brutal working conditions, 12-hour shifts, military-style management, public humiliation for errors, and severe isolation. Foxconn's response included higher wages, suicide-prevention netting of the building and counselling. There was also a fatal dust explosion in 2011 at a Foxconn facility in Chengdu, China, which killed 4 and injured 18.

In February 2023, Foxlink, which manufactures iPhone ​chargers, suspended production at its assembly facility in Chittoor in the state of Andhra ​Pradesh after ⁠a fire caused part of the building to collapse. In November 2024, Foxconn ordered its hiring agent to eliminate age, gender and marital criteria from job advertisements. In January 2025, Indian National Human Rights officials have accused Indian labour officials of ​failing to adequately investigate employment discrimination at Foxconn's iPhone plant