Chinese iPhone worker commits suicide over theft investigation

The BBC reports that 25-year old Sun Dan Yong, a worker at Foxconn - one of Apple's largest manufacturers based in Shenzhen - threw himself from a 12 storey building in the midst of an investigation into a missing fourth generation iPhone prototype.

Sun was responsible for shipping 16 of the prototypes to Apple, and after he reported that one had gone missing, the company launched an investigation into the disappearance.

According to close friends of the Chinese worker, during the investigation Sun was beaten, his house searched and he was locked alone in a room. In an online chat conversation he reportedly described the situation as one of the most humiliating experiences of his life. Three days later, he committed suicide by jumping from the 12 storey building.

Foxconn, which has faced allegations of treating its staff badly in the past, has since suspended its chief of security and expressed its condolences to Sun's family.

Apple has said it is saddened by the death, and is now waiting for the results of the investigation, which has been taken over by the local security bureau.