Three workers die at Tata Electronics plant making iPhone components in India

What happened

Three contract workers died on Monday evening, 9 November 2026, during maintenance work at a wastewater treatment station inside a Tata Electronics factory in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. Reuters reported the deaths, citing officials in the region and two industry sources with direct knowledge of the incident. Dinesh Kumar, a local administration official, said the workers inhaled gases while inspecting an outer tank used in the nanofiltration process. The station was operated by Nalco Water, a company within the US group Ecolab. Tata Electronics, Apple and Nalco Water did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

How the deaths unfolded

According to The New Indian Express, as reported by La Repubblica, the three workers, aged 25, 28 and 32, were suspected of asphyxiation while carrying out cleaning and checks on a tank. In the first reconstruction, one worker leaned into the tank and lost consciousness after breathing in the gas. A second worker went in to rescue him and collapsed too, and a third colleague who tried to help suffered the same fate. A fourth member of the team, who witnessed the incident, raised the alarm. The three were pulled out and taken to a hospital, where doctors pronounced them dead. The victims were employed by a subcontractor responsible for work on the filtration plant.

Apple's supply chain in India

Tata Electronics' division assembles about 40% of iPhones made in India, while Foxconn produces the rest, according to Reuters. India now accounts for about 25% of global iPhone production as Apple has expanded output outside China. Tata is a conglomerate with interests ranging from the food industry to aviation. In the months before the deaths, Tata's iPhone operations faced a ransomware attack and accusations of water pollution, the report said.

Official response and production

Tamil Nadu's industries minister, Virudhai Magal Keerthana, said in a post on X that the deaths would be investigated in detail and that necessary measures would follow depending on the findings. The state hosts factories of international companies including Foxconn, Hyundai, VinFast and BMW. Production was not affected because the factory had been closed for the Hindu festival of Diwali, two industry sources said. Both Tata and Apple will conduct their own investigations, the sources added.

What remains unclear

The reports reviewed give suspected asphyxiation as the cause, and no official cause of death has been published. Reuters described the three victims as contract workers, but the articles do not name the subcontractor that employed them. The reports available do not yet contain findings from the Apple, Tata or local investigations.