Serum Institute is one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world. The serum is the manufacturer of the Covishield vaccine, approved by the Centre for Covid-19. At Friday fire broke out at one of the buildings At least Five people have lost their lives in the fire that broke out at a facility of Serum Institute in Pune on Thursday. Initially, it was reported that only five people were inside the building, but it turned out that at least 11 people were inside the facility. A total of 15 were rushed to the site to douse the fire. The site where the fire broke out, is an under-construction building at Serum Institute of India.
The fire brigade team found the bodies of five persons, including one woman, after the blaze was brought under control, Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced he will visit the SII unit tomorrow to take stock of the situation, Serum Institute has announced a sum of Rs 25 lakh each for the families of the five deceased. “We are deeply saddened and offer our condolences to the families of the departed. In this regard, we will be offering a compensation of INR 25 lakhs to each of the families.
WHERE DID THE FIRE BREAK OUT?
The Fire broke out in the building and facility which is being prepared for another vaccine product (not Covishield) that Serum is working on and therefore there is no impact on Covishield.
WHAT CAUSED THE FIRE?
While the cause is being investigated, one plausible explanation is that perhaps it is due to some welding work happening at the location and it could have perhaps resulted in a spark which could have initiated the fire. Cyrus S. Poonawalla, Chairman & Managing Director, Serum Institute of India, releases a statement on Twitter regarding the incident.
FIRE BREAKS OUT AGAIN AT SERUM INSTITUTE
A second fire broke out hours later and was brought under control. It is unlikely to hit the production of Covishield, the coronavirus vaccine developed by the SII in partnership with the Oxford University and British-Swedish pharma firm AstraZeneca.
A few more trapped in the building were rescued. “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,” Serum CEO Adar Poonawalla tweeted.
It took around three hours for firemen to bring the blaze under control. The fire is believed to have started because of an electrical fault.
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