A woman employed by Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn jumped to her death from a company building in northern China, state media said on Thursday, the latest in a series of fatalities involving its workers.
The 20-year-old, named as Li Rongying, is believed to have killed herself by jumping from the fourth floor of a workshop at the company plant in Taiyuan in Shanxi Province on Wednesday morning, Xinhua news agency reported.
She left a suicide note saying she had despaired over disappointment in a relationship, the report said, citing police. Her relatives have asked for an autopsy, it added.
Foxconn, which is the largest maker of computer components and assembles products for Apple — including the iPhone — plus Sony and Nokia, has come under the spotlight after suicides and labor unrest at its Chinese plants.
A young woman intern fell to her death from a dormitory at the company’s plant in Zhenghzhou in central China in September and a 21-year-old employee jumped to his death in July in the southern city of Shenzhen.
At least 13 employees died in apparent suicides last year, which activists blamed on tough working conditions, leading to calls for better treatment of staff.
Foxconn employs about 1 million workers in China, about half of them based in its main facility in Shenzhen.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
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