SII fire accident or sabotage to be known after probe: Maha CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister UddhavThackeray on Friday said that whether the fire at the SerumInstitute of India (SII) was an accident or sabotage will beknown only after the probe gets over.

Five men died in the fire that broke out in a five-storeyed under-construction building in the SII's Manjaripremises in Pune on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference after visiting the siteof the fire, Thackeray said, ''Let the investigation getcompleted. It is not correct to say anything now. After theprobe gets over, we will know whether it was an accident orsabotage.'' Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII said there was no damageto the Covishield vaccine production, but other facilitiesinvolved in the production of Rotavirus and BCG vaccines weredamaged.

''The financial losses (due to the fire) are to thetune of Rs 1,000 crore,'' he said.

The Manjari facility is where Covishield, the SIIvaccine against COVID-19 which is being used in the nationwideinoculation drive, is manufactured.

The building where the fire broke out is one km fromthe Covishield vaccine manufacturing unit.