Fire at Serum Institute: Uddhav Thackeray likely to visit facility on Friday
The major fire that broke out at a building in the Serum Institute of India’s Pune campus is now under control. Five workers were killed in the tragedy. Officials said production of Covid vaccine has not been affected by the fire.
Five workers were killed in the major fire broke out at a plant of the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Manjri area of Pune on Thursday afternoon. The fire is now under control. Fifteen fire tenders and a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed to the spot to douse the fire that broke out around 2.45 pm.
The fire was caused after some insulation material caught fire during welding, the government said.
The fire broke out at an under-construction building at the Serum Institute’s premises.
The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, is manufacturing the Covishield vaccine developed by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca. Covishield is one of the two Covid-19 vaccines that have been granted emergency use approval in India.
Officials said the manufacturing unit of Covishield is safe and has not been affected by the fire.
PM Modi mourns the death of five workers at Serum Institute. Anguished by the loss of lives due to an unfortunate fire at the @SerumInstIndia. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. I pray that those injured recover at the earliest,” PM Modi said in a tweet.
“CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray is in touch with the Pune Municipal Commissioner and is taking complete on-ground updates. He has directed the state machinery to coordinate and ensure that the situation is under control,” the CMO said in a tweet.
