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Riot reported at Apple partner manufacturer Foxconn's iPhone 5 plant [ux2]

Reports of a "mass disturbance" at Foxconn's Taiyuan factory surfaced early Monday local China time, with the purported 2,000-person riot having caused damage to the plant's infrastructure.

The first reports came in late Saturday night through the Sina Weibo micro-blogging service, showing pictures of police clad in riot gear fending off large groups of people in and around Foxconn's plant, reports Engadget.

What sparked the disturbance is still unknown, however unofficial reports point to a worker being hit by a Foxconn guard at around 10 p.m. on Sunday, local time. The resulting riot was also said to include 2,000 people, however that too has yet to be confirmed.

Chinese censors are already removing pictures and video of the incident from the internet.

In a report earlier this month, a Chinese reporter supposedly went undercover inside the Taiyuan factory to experience the facility's working and living conditions first hand, and found that the plant was responsible for the fabrication of "uni-body" backplates used in Apple's latest iPhone 5.

Update: According to Reuters, a Foxconn official said the incident was in fact a fight between workers from different production lines.

"The fight is over now ... we're still investigating the cause of the fight and the number of people involved," said Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo. He went on to say the company will release a statement regarding the matter later on Monday.

Update 2: Foxconn has reportedly shut down the Taiyuan factory due to the disturbance which reportedly injured 40 people.