Foxconn employees dropping like flies

iPhone makers seem prone to suicide

Another worker at a Foxconn factory has jumped to his death, bringing the suicide toll to nine this year already, according to Chinese state media.

The  21-year-old, named Nan Gang, jumped from a four-storey factory building, in Shenzhen, soon after finishing a shift there.

It also has emerged that another Foxconn had killed himself earlier this year.

This brings the total number of Foxconn employees who have tried to kill themselves this year  to eleven -  two survived.

Ten of those seeking to take their own lives had been working  at Foxconn's factories in Shenzhen. The eleventh, 19-year old Rong Bo, died in the city of Langtang in January.

Foxconn is part of Hon Hai Precision, the world's largest maker of consumer electronics goods, including the iPhone. The Taiwanese company employs 800,000 workers worldwide, mostly in China.

The US-based China Labour Watch has criticised Foxconn's "military-style administration and harsh working conditions" and said the company should "initiate a thoroughgoing analysis of life on its production lines".

A local government investigation of the companies facilites, however, decided factory conditions were not to blame for the deaths. China has the highest suicide rate in the world.

Foxconn said it has hired 100 counsellors and a group of Buddhist monks to support workers at its plants.