Protest after 10th 'suicide' at hi-tech plant

A CHINESE employee of the world's largest electronics company died yesterday after falling from a building.

The death is the tenth this year at Foxconn Technology Group, which manufactures the iPod, Dell computers and Nokia phones.

Police have yet to determine if the victim, Li Hai, 19, took his own life after working at the plant for only 42 days, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. Foxconn did not immediately comment on the death.

Foxconn's plant in the southern city of Shenzhen employs more than 300,000 people.

Labour activists said the string of suicides backs up their long-standing allegations that workers toil in terrible conditions at Foxconn.

Yesterday, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou told reporters: "We are certainly not running a sweatshop."