5 found dead as Serum Institute fire doused

January 21, 2021 18:12

Five people have died in the fire which started at the Serum Institute of India's (SII) Manjri plant on Thursday afternoon. The fire has been brought under control.

"Four people were evacuated from the building but when it came under control, five bodies were found by our jawans," Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol said.

"The five people who died, were perhaps the workers at the under-construction building. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained but it is being speculated that welding, that was going on at the building, caused the fire," Mohol said.

"Fire at the Serum Institute of India building is under control, the cooling process is underway," said Prashant Ranpise, Chief fire officer, Pune Municipal Corporation.

Adar Poonawalla, the Chief executive officer (CEO) of SII, who had earlier expressed his gratitude for the concern shown by the people, offered condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the incident.

'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 said.

Poonawalla had tweeted earlier, '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.'

'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,' SII CEO had said in another tweet.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said it seems that the fire was caused by an electric fault. -- ANI

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