5 dead in fire at Serum Institute of india, at Pune -vaccine production not hit - Institute announced a compensation of Rs 25 lakh

Cyrus Poonawalla, the Serum Institute chairman and managing director, said the family of each of the deceased would receive a compensation of Rs 25 lakh

Smoke billows out of the Serum Institute of India premises in Pune after the massive fire on Thursday.: PTI

PTI, Reuters   |   Pune   |   22.01.21 : A blaze on Thursday at the Serum Institute of India killed five people but the world’s biggest vaccine maker said it would not affect production of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

At least nine people have been evacuated from the five-storey, under-construction building in the Manjari complex, according to sources. The building is 1km from the Covishield manufacturing unit.

Videos and pictures showed black smoke billowing from a multi-storey building at the Serum Institute’s sprawling headquarters complex in Pune.

The process of manufacturing the coronavirus vaccine has not been affected, Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla said. 

“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 tweeted.

“I would like to reassure all governments and 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,” he added.

The Manjari facility is where the Covishield vaccine is being made.

Poonawalla told a TV channel that the fire would mean delays in launching new products and revenue losses of more than Rs 1,000 crore. Equipment worth millions of dollars has been damaged, he said. But a source said that none of the new production equipment for vaccines was in the building that caught fire.

Those who died were construction workers working on the fifth floor. The fire broke out at 2.45pm on the fourth and fifth floors of the SEZ 3 building and was brought under control around 4.30pm. Initial information suggested an electrical fault had caused the fire.

Cyrus Poonawalla, the Serum Institute chairman and managing director, said the family of each of the deceased would receive a compensation of Rs 25 lakh.