Szeged Mayor Laszlo Botka C visits BYD’s new energy passenger vehicle factory in Szeged, Hungary, April 21, 2026. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua via Getty Images)
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A second worker died on the construction site THE WORLD electric vehicle factory in Szeged, Hungary, CNBC has learned.
Fate — which follows a death on site in February — comes after BYD executive vice president Stella Li denied the allegations earlier this month of labor abuses at the site, and told CNBC that the automaker welcomed labor inspectors. Shenzhen-based BYD did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest death.
The worker died on June 18 after paramedics’ resuscitation attempts failed, Hungary’s national ambulance service told CNBC on Monday, adding that several emergency units, including a rescue helicopter, were dispatched to the scene of the incident.
Local media reported that the worker had been hit by a truck at the factory construction site. Authorities are investigating the circumstances of the incident, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Csongrád-Csanád County Government Office.
AIM Construction Hungary Ltd. subsidiary of the construction company linked to a 2024 labor scandal at BYD Electric vehicle factory in Brazil — was fined 34,500,000 forints ($110,350) over workplace safety concerns, 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 of a series of other violations, including late employee registration, violations of working time regulations and “formal defects” in employment contracts, the county government office added.
Read more stories about electric carsTwo other companies were also found to be non-compliant. LEVAI-SECURITY Ltd. was fined for employing workers without proper registration, while Plusz Kéz Ltd. Received warnings for labor monitoring issues.
Earlier this year, New York-based watchdog China Labor Watch released a report alleging forced labor at the BYD factory construction site in Szeged, including reports of employees working seven days a week and having their wages withheld.
BYD began moving production machines to the site in January, according to BYD’s Li earlier remarks to CNBC, with full production expected in the third quarter of 2026.
