Five charred bodies were recovered from Serum Institute of India building where fire broke out on Thursday afternoon, said a fire official. The fire has been brought under control and as many as six people have been rescued from the spot.
The fire broke out at about 2:45 pm at an under-construction building where vaccine production was supposed to start after a month. The fire broke out at 4th and 5th floor of the SEZ3 building. BCG vaccine laboratory was there at 3rd floor of the same building but that is unaffected. The COVISHIELD plant is almost about 1km distance from fire incident site.
Adar Poonawalla, the Chief executive officer (CEO) of SII had expressed his gratitude for the concern shown by the people after no lives were lost due to the incident.
"Thank you, everyone, for your concern and prayers. So far the most important thing is that there've been no lives lost or major injuries due to fire, despite a few floors being destroyed," SII CEO tweeted.
"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. Thank you very much Pune City Police and Fire Department," Poonawalla said in another tweet.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said it seems that the fire was caused by an electric fault. "Six people have been rescued (from fire). Prima facie it seems that the fire was caused by an electric fault. The COVID vaccine is safe. I have not spoken to Adar Poonawalla till now," said Maharashtra CM.