5 dead in Serum Institute fire; Covishield facility unaffected

Five men died after a fire brokeout in a five-storeyed under-construction building in theSerum Institute of India's Manjari premises in Pune onThursday, police said.

All the deceased were contract workers, whose bodieswere recovered by fire brigade personnel from the top floor,police said, adding nine persons were evacuated from the spot.

Covishield vaccine production won't be hit due to thefire, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla said.

Manjari facility is where the Covishield vaccine usedin the nationwide inoculation drive against the pandemic ismade. The building where fire broke out is one km from theCovishield vaccine manufacturing unit, sources said.

''I would like to reassure all governments & the publicthat there would be no loss of #COVISHIELD production due tomultiple production buildings that I had kept in reserve todeal with such contingencies at @SerumInstIndia,'' Poonawallatweeted.

''We have just received some distressing updates; uponfurther investigation we have learnt that there hasunfortunately been some loss of life at the incident. We aredeeply saddened and offer our deepest condolences to thefamily members of the departed,'' Poonawalla added.

Mayor Murlidhar Mohol said fire officials recoveredthe five bodies during the cooling operation.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said thestate government has ordered a probe into the fire.

The fire, which broke out at 2.45 pm on the fourth andfifth floors of the building, was brought under control in twohours, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Namrata Patil told PTIthat nine people were evacuated from the building.

Viral visuals from the site showed smoke billowing outfrom the Serum Institute facility.

Chief Fire Officer Prashant Ranpise said 15 watertankers were pressed into action and the fire was broughtunder control around 4.30 pm.

''The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Furniture, wiring, cabins were gutted. No major machinery orinstruments were stored on the floors where the fire brokeout,'' he said.

''Anguished by the loss of lives due to an unfortunatefire at the @SerumInstIndia. In this sad hour, my thoughts arewith the families of those who lost their lives. I pray thatthose injured recover at the earliest,'' Prime MinisterNarendra Modi tweeted.

Modi was briefly in the first floor of the buildingduring his visit to the Serum Institute of India (SII) inNovember last year to review the status of the vaccinecandidate, SII sources said.

Ajit Pawar said, ''I have taken information from thePune Municipal Corporation about the incident and instructedlocals officials to carry out a detailed probe into the fire.'' Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray told reporters that asper initial information, an electrical fault caused the fire.

''As per initial information, the fire did not erupt atthe unit where the COVID-19 vaccine is being produced, but inthe unit where the BCG vaccine is produced,'' Thackeray said.

Asked about claims that the fire was due to sabotage,Thackeray quipped, They (those making the claim) need to beadministered the vaccine of patience.'' Thackeray spoke to Poonawalla about the fire and willbe visiting the building on Friday, a CMO official said.

Ajit Pawar visited the building on Thursday evening,another official said.

Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd is the world'slargest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced andsold globally (more than 1.5 billion doses) which includesPolio vaccine as well as Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hib,BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines, asper the company's website.