PUNE, Jan 21: Five men died after a fire broke out in a five-storeyed under-construction building in the Serum Institute of India’s Manjari premises in Pune today, police said.
All the deceased were contract workers, whose bodies were 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 the fire, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla said.
Manjari facility is where the Covishield vaccine used in the nationwide inoculation drive against the pandemic is made. The building where fire broke out is one km from the Covishield vaccine manufacturing unit, sources said.
“I would like to reassure all Governments & the public that there would be no loss of #COVISHIELD production due to multiple production buildings that I had kept in reserve to deal with such contingencies at @SerumInstIndia,” Poonawalla tweeted.
“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,” Poonawalla added.
Mayor Murlidhar Mohol said fire officials recovered the five bodies during the cooling operation.(PTI)
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