5 killed in fire at Serum Institute

Five people died as a fire tore through an under construction facility of Serum Institute of India in Pune. It is unlikely to impact the Covishield vaccine making process as the fire broke out in a facility away from the place where the COVID-19 vaccines are made, sources said.

"We are deeply saddened and offer our deepest condolences to the family members of the departed," Adar Poonawalla, the firm's CEO, Adar Poonawalla, tweeted, without offering further details, reports NDTV.

The Serum Institute, the "world's largest maker of vaccines", is producing millions of doses of the Covishield coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

Manjari, the complex where the fire broke out, is a few minutes drive from the facility where the Covid vaccines are produced, the sources said. It is believed to be part of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Serum Institute of India chief Adar Poonawalla on Thursday said that he was deeply saddened by the loss of lives in the fire at the vaccine-maker's facility in Pune which is at the heart of India's fight against the coronavirus. Five people have died in the fire.

He had earlier said there will be no impact on the manufacturing of vaccines.