Following the explosion at Foxconn's Chengdu plant on May 20 there have been a number of further developments. Over the weekend it was reported that a third person had died following the explosion that ripped through Foxconn's newest assembly plant.
News coming out of China has been heavily restricted with speculation leaning on the idea that Foxconn is trying to cover up the incident. The news blackout has been skirted mainly by Taiwanese TV which is reporting out of China. There are a number of reports about reporters being forcefully removed from the area and their cameras destroyed or confiscated. Foxconn has also not released a list of victims to either the press or families.
It has been confirmed that the explosion was caused by a buildup of combustible dust that collected in a polishing workshop. As such Foxconn has halted all polishing operations. A spokesperson has indicated that the company has more than a week of inventory that will allow it to suspend polishing operations for safety checks.
The focus is now shifting away from the unfortunate human loss of life and onto the effect the incident could have on the production of Apple's iPad 2 which just a month back was said to be facing the "mother of all backlogs". Analysts will begin weighing in today with many expected to predict that this tragedy will only worsen Apple's supply issues.