During the continuing riots taking place in North London, the Sony DADC (Digital Audio Disc Corporation) production facility in Enfield was allegedly torched by looters. The 20,000 square meter facility is one of 19 worldwide used by Sony to produce gaming storage media such as CDs, DVDs UMDs and Blu-Ray discs, research new technologies, and serve as a distribution hub.
Video reports by the BBC show the extent of the fire, and it looks like this facility could well be utterly destroyed. A citizen calling in to the BBC reported witnessing looters exiting the facility carrying a number of stolen Sony products. The witness was also assaulted before the looters made off. Minutes later, the building began to burn, placing nearby hotels and residences in peril.
The BBC has hosted video footage of the fire on its website, along with audio from the caller describing the looting and subsequent fire.
It remains to be seen how this will affect Sony’s gaming manufacture and distribution in the EMEA region, which includes South Africa. “There will likely be some impact on deliveries. We cannot determine the cause of the fire or the extent of the damage yet because it’s not possible to enter the building,” said Sony spokesperson Yoko Yasukochi, speaking to MCV.
About the 2011 London riots
Violence and looting spread to new areas of London on Monday – and to a second major British city – as police and politicians struggled to contain the disorder during a third day of rioting in the capital, which will host next summer’s Olympic Games.
The worst unrest in London in decades saw buildings, cars and garbage dumps set ablaze and police officers pelted with bottles and fireworks, as groups of young people and police clashed in neighbourhoods across the capital.
In the nation’s central city of Birmingham, dozens of people attacked stores in a main retail district – spreading the chaos beyond London for the first time since violence broke out on Saturday night.
The violence began late Saturday in London’s northern Tottenham district when a peaceful protest over the police’s deadly shooting of a suspect turned violent, leaving parts of the high street charred and its shops looted. But some have blamed the unrest on unemployment, insensitive policing and frustration across Britain over the government’s austerity budget, which will bring deep cuts to social services and welfare payments.
On Monday evening, the rioting spread to at least four new areas of London.
Sony production facility torched during London riots << Comments and views
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