A riot broke out at a Foxconn workers' dormitory in Chengdu after hundreds of workers got involved in a clash with security guards, according to reports from Chinese human rights website Molihua [English version in the Want China Times here].

The incident at the dorm started at about 9pm on Monday and escalated into a full-scale riot involving three to four male dormitories, and up to 1,000 employees, reports claimed.

Bottles, trash cans, chairs and fireworks were thrown from the upper floors of the male dormitory that housed workers from the Foxconn Chengdu plant. It lasted for two hours before local police quelled the disturbance, say reports.

The disturbance broke out after two security guards "tried to stop a thief", according to the story on Molihua, and then escalated after workers took advantage of the trouble to air long-held dissatisfaction with the guards.

Apparently dozens of arrests have been made.

In a statement to The Reg, Foxconn distanced itself from the disturbance, saying that the Chengdu police had informed it that the riot had been caused by a dispute with a local restaurant owner.

We were informed by local law enforcement authorities that late Monday night, several employees of our facility in Chengdu had a disagreement with the owner of a restaurant located in that city.

Foxconn also said that the dormitories were run by a third party and that the security guards were not Foxconn employees.

We were also informed that the employees subsequently returned to their off-campus residence, owned and managed by third-party companies, at which time a number of other residents also became involved in the disagreement and local police were called to the scene to restore order. Foxconn is cooperating with local law enforcement authorities on their investigation into this incident.

The Foxconn Chengdu factory manufactures electronic parts for various vendors, including iPhone and iPad components for Apple. Foxconn is one of the biggest electronics manufacturers in China and also makes kit for Sony, Microsoft, Nokia and many, many more. ®