Fresh Fire Breaks Out At Serum Institute Building After Massive Afternoon Blaze; PM Says Anguished By Death Of 5 Workers

A fire broke out at Terminal 1 gate of Serum Institute of India in Pune earlier in the day. It is being reported that at least five people have lost their lives in the fire incident.

(Image: ANI)

Mumbai: In an unexpected turn of events, another fire broke out in one compartment of the same building at Serum Institute Of India (SII) plant hours after five workers were killed in the major fire that broke out on Thursday afternoon at Terminal 1 gate of factory located in Pune, Maharashtra. As per recent reports, fire fighting operation has been started again and is underway.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the loss of lives at the SII fire incident. In a tweet PM said: "Anguished by the loss of lives due to an unfortunate fire at the Serum Institute of India"

"In this sad hour, my thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. I pray that those injured recover at the earliest," PM further wrote.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Anguished by the loss of lives due to an unfortunate fire at the <a href="https://twitter.com/SerumInstIndia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>@SerumInstIndia</a>. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. I pray that those injured recover at the earliest.</p>&mdash; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1352257776924450817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>January 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

SII is responsible for the production of Covishield vaccine in the country. Thick clouds of smoke could be seen billowing out of one of the buildings in the SII complex at Gopalpatti earlier in the day.

"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," Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol said while speaking to reporters. However, Covishield vaccine production was not hit due to the fire, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla informed.

At least 10 fire tenders have rushed to the spot from Pune Fire Brigade and were seen fighting the blaze. The cause of the fire has not been ascertained yet. 

The fire was at under-construction building at Serum Institute and not at the vaccine production facility, sources at Serum Institute confirmed to ABP News. Vaccine production is not impacted and fire brigade is on work, the source added. 

Meanwhile, Maharashtra CMO informed that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackery will visit the site of the actual fire unit and inspect the scene on Friday afternoon.

Fire continues to rage at the fourth and fifth floors of SEZ3 building inside Terminal Gate 1 of the building in Pune. The massive blaze comes at a time when India's mass vaccination drive has rolled out full-fledged and shipments of vaccines have been sent across the country. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maharashtra: Fire breaks out at Terminal 1 gate of Serum Institute of India in Pune. More details awaited. <a href="https://t.co/RnjnNj37ta" rel='nofollow'>pic.twitter.com/RnjnNj37ta</a></p>&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1352187440782483457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>January 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Manjari facility is where the Covishield vaccine used in the nationwide inoculation drive against the pandemic is made. The building where the fire broke out is part of the under-construction site of the Serum facility and is one km from the Covishield manufacturing unit, sources said.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the state government has ordered a probe into the blaze.  Serum Institute is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer and is responsible for manufacturing the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine against coronavirus in India. 

The fire, which broke out at 2.45 pm on the fourth and fifth floors of the SEZ 3 building in the Serum Institute premises, was brought under control in two hours, police said. Deputy Commissioner of Police Namrata Patil told PTI that nine people were evacuated from the spot after the fire broke out.