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A young Chinese worker struck down with leukaemia while working in a factory that makes Apple's iPhones has died – days after his mother pleaded in The Mail on Sunday for Apple chief executive Tim Cook to help save her son's life.

Yi Long is at least the sixth worker to die of leukaemia after falling ill at the factory complex in Shenzhen, southern China, in a cluster of cases families believe may be triggered by the chemicals handled by workers.

Yi, whose case was highlighted in a Mail on Sunday investigation, fell into a coma five days ago and was taken by his family from a hospital near the factory after doctors declared there was no hope.

Yi Long, 25, (right) has become the sixth person to die of leukaemia after working at at an iPhone factory in China. His mother, Cheng Fuying, (left) appealed to Apple CEO Tim Cook days ago

He died in his family's village home in rural Hunan province on Friday night and was buried yesterday on what would have been his 26th birthday.

His distraught parents said they had been refused financial help by the factory, run by Apple contractor Foxconn, to pay for his cancer treatment and were unable to afford a bone marrow transplant.

Apple said that a four-month investigation into 22 final assembly facilities found 'no evidence of worker health and safety being put at risk'

The Mail on Sunday revealed a fortnight ago how at least 13 workers in their late teens and 20s at the massive Foxconn complex employing 230,000 people had contracted leukaemia since 2010. Five had already died.

Foxconn factories make electronic goods for a number of big international brands, including Apple. 

Sections of its operation are dedicated to iPhones and an Apple source said last week the Guanlan plant where Yi and four of the other five fatal leukaemia cases worked was a dedicated iPhone factory.

Families and a labour rights group supporting them believe chemicals used in the production process may have caused the leukaemia. But Taiwan-based Foxconn insists blood cancer rates among workers are lower than the national average.

Yi was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2011, 20 months after he started work at Foxconn.

His mother Cheng Fuying protested outside Foxconn with the families of other leukaemia victims in 2012, pleading for help with medical bills, but said they were denied a meeting with factory managers and threatened with arrest unless they left. 

After her son's funeral yesterday, she said: 'I want justice for my son.'

A fortnight ago, she issued an appeal through the MoS to Apple CEO Tim Cook, saying: 'If you have a conscience, Apple should at least make sure my son's disease is treated.'

An Apple spokesman said yesterday that a four-month investigation into 22 final assembly facilities found 'no evidence of worker health and safety being put at risk'.

He added: 'We care about every worker in our world-wide supply chain and work tirelessly to ensure their right to a safe and healthy work space. We were saddened to hear of the Yi family's loss and wish to express our deepest condolences.'

In an earlier statement, Foxconn said the incidence of leukaemia among its employees across China was 'significantly lower than the reported national annual rate'.