A second worker has died at the construction site of BYD’s electric vehicle factory in Szeged, Hungary, CNBC has learned.
The fatality — which follows a death at the site in February — comes after BYD executive vice president Stella Li earlier this month denied allegations of labor abuse at the site, and told CNBC the automaker welcomed labor inspectors. Shenzhen-based BYD did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest fatality.
This worker died on June 18 after resuscitation attempts by paramedics failed, Hungary’s National Ambulance Service told CNBC on Monday, adding that several emergency units, including a rescue helicopter, had been dispatched to the scene of the incident.
Local media reported that the worker had been struck by a lorry at the construction site of the factory. Authorities are investigating the circumstances of the incident, according to a statement from the Csongrád-Csanád County Government Office on Wednesday.
AIM Construction Hungary Ltd. — a subsidiary of the construction company linked to a 2024 labor scandal at BYD’s EV factory in Brazil — was fined 34,500,000 forints ($110,350) over occupational security issues, the Csongrád-Csanád County Government Office said in response to CNBC’s request for comment on the second worker death.
AIM Construction was also warned over a suite of other violations, including late employee registration, violations of working time framework regulations, and “formal defects” in employment contracts, the county government office added.
Two other firms were also found to be non-compliant. LÉVAI-SECURITY Ltd. was fined for employing workers without proper registration, while Plusz Kéz Ltd. received warnings over labor supervision issues.
Earlier this year, New York-based watchdog China Labor Watch published a report alleging forced labor at BYD’s Szeged factory construction site, including reports of employees who had seven-day work weeks and had wages withheld.
BYD began moving production machinery into the site in January, according to earlier remarks to CNBC by BYD’s Li, with full production expected in the third quarter of 2026.
By CNBC