Five burnt bodies of five men and one woman were recovered in a major fire that broke out in a building at the Pune-based vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) on Thursday. The fire broke out at an under-construction SII plant on Thursday afternoon. The CEO of Serum Institute, Addr Poonawalla, took to Twitter to convey the tragic news and said he was deeply saddened by the incident.
"We have just received some distressing updates; upon further investigation, we have learnt that there has unfortunately been some loss of life at the incident. We are deeply saddened and offer our deepest condolences to the family members of the departed," tweeted Poonawalla.
We have just received some distressing updates; upon further investigation we have learnt that there has unfortunately been some loss of life at the incident. We are deeply saddened and offer our deepest condolences to the family members of the departed.
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 21, 2021
Notably, the Serum Institute of India is the manufacturer of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine – Covishield.
The building where the fire broke out is one km from the Covishield manufacturing unit and officials have said there would be no loss of Covishield production due to the fire.
The fire broke out at 2.45 pm on the fourth and fifth floors of the SEZ 3 building in the SII premises and the blaze has been brought under control. Visuals from the site showed thick clouds of smoke emerging out of one of the buildings in the SII complex at Gopalpatti.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray kept himself updated with the incident and said an electric fault likely caused the fire.
"As per the information we have received, the fire is under control...The fire had not broken out at the COVID vaccine unit. Six people have been rescued. Prima facie, it seems that the fire was caused by an electric fault. The COVID vaccine is safe. I have not spoken to (SII CEO) Adar Poonawalla till now," Thackeray said.
The 5 people who died in the fire mishap were workers at the workers at the under-construction building, said Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained but it is being speculated that welding, that was going on at the building, caused the fire, added Mohol.
The cooling process is underway, said Pune’s fire chief. "Fire at the Serum Institute of India building is under control, the cooling process is underway. The cause of the fire is still unknown," said Prashant Ranpise, the chief fire officer, Pune Municipal Corporation.
No loss of COVISHIELD production: SII CEO Adar Poonawalla
Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla assured that Covishield production will not be affected, "I'd like to reassure all govt & public that there would be no loss of COVISHIELD production due to multiple production buildings that I'd kept in reserve to deal with such contingencies at Serum Institute of India. Thank you very much Pune Police and Fire Dept," he said.
Also Read: Fire breaks out at Serum Institute Pune plant, no casualties reported
The Maharashtra Cm Thackeray and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar were in contact with Pune Municipal Commissioner and were receiving complete updates. Both have asserted that fire has not caused any harm to the vaccine making process.
The Pune Police Commissioner informed that production of the covid-19 vaccine was yet to begin at the plant affected by the fire.
"Fire broke out at Manjari plant. Production wasn't done there but the preparation was on to begin it at a later stage. Fire fighting operation is on, the building has been vacated but we're re-checking. Fire will be doused in an hour. No problem at the vaccine plant/storage," the police chief said.