A total of eight people, including two firefighters, died at a major fire at a Shanghai factory owned by Apple supplier Casetek on Thursday.
The fire at the factory, owned by Shengrui Electronic Technology, reportedly broke out at 1:30 pm China Standard Time (1:30am Eastern) on Thursday, and continued until Friday morning. A statement from the district government on Friday said a total of eight people were trapped in the fire, including two firefighters and six civilians.
The firefighters were said to have gone missing while performing an overnight search for people in stuck in the factory, reports the South China Morning Post. The eight people were confirmed dead on Friday morning.
The entire facility was engulfed by the fire over the course of the incident, and required the attendance of over 900 firefighters, 123 fire engines, and eight robots to fight the blaze.
Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire. As for its effects, the district government believes the fire hadn’t caused significant air or water pollution to the local environment. The factory itself is located in Jinshan District, in southwest Shanghai.
Shengrui Electronic Company was acquired in 2020 by Casetek Group, itself owned by Pegatron. Casetek is known to be a producer of casings for Apple’s MacBook lines as well as iPads, but it is unclear how much of an impact the fire at Casetek’s subsidiary will have on Apple’s supply chain at this time.