Ajit Pawar visits Serum fire site; says probe to find cause

Maharashtra Deputy Chief MinisterAjit Pawar on Thursday evening visited the under-constructionbuilding at Serum Institute of India (SII) premises here wherea major fire killed five people, and took stock of thesituation.

Speaking to reporters after visiting the premises ofthe vaccine major in the Manjari area of the city, Pawartermed the death of five contractual labourers in the fire as''unfortunate''.

''Among the five, two were from Pune, two from UttarPradesh and one from Bihar,'' he said.

''Though the fire has been doused now, a team of firebrigade, police and officials from district administration isstill at the site,'' said Pawar, who is also the guardianminister of Pune district.

All five died in the fire that broke out in a five-storeyed under-construction building in the SII's Manjaripremises in the afternoon, police said.

Their bodies were recovered by fire brigade personnelfrom the fifth floor, police said, adding nine others wereevacuated from the spot.

Pawar said after dousing flames in the evening, asmall fire broke out at the top floor of the (five-storeyed)building, but it was extinguished immediately.

Pawar said it is difficult to speculate on how thefire broke out and added a different team will launch aninvestigation on Friday to find out the cause.

''Initially, it was told that there was no human loss.

The reason behind it was that all employees of the SII weresafe. However, on last two floors, some contractual workerswere doing their work,'' he added.

He said during the colling off process, when firebrigade officials went to the top floor, they found fivecompletely bodies charred.

Pawar said there is 99 per cent possibility that thereis no casualty beyond five.

''We are not saying 100 per cent because right nowthere is no light and smoke is still emanating from the (top)floor,'' he said.

Pawar said fire brigade teams did a good job duringthe cooling-off operation.

He confirmed that production of Covishield, the SIIvaccine against COVID-19 which is being used in the nationwideinoculation drive, has not been affected.

''We have been told that there is a facility nearby(fire site) where the Rotavirus vaccine is being currentlystored.

''They were planning to produce more Rotavirus vaccineand preparation to create a facility for the same was going onin the building,'' he added.

Pawar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during hisrecent visit to the SII, had toured the first and secondfloors of the same building.

''The fire broke out at the floors above the thirdfloor. Each level comprised two floors (20 feet floor),'' hesaid.

Pawar said fire and energy audits of the affectedfacility will be carried out on Friday.

''I was told that after the fire broke out, watersprinklers fitted in the building, were activated. However,considering the fire's intensity, the water sprinklers were ofno use,'' the Deputy Chief Minister added.

''Investigators will check whether due safety measureswere taken or not...or whether guidelines related to SEZs werefollowed or not,'' he said.

Some people are saying that the fire took place due towelding works which were going on in the facility, Pawar said.

''However, all these discussions are based on hearsay.

Only a detailed investigation will ascertain if sparksemanating during welding works caused the fire,'' he added.

Meanwhile, NCP president Sharad Pawar termed the fireat the SII premises as ''very tragic and unfortunate'' andcondoled the death of five people in the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)