NEW DELHI, Jan 21: At least five persons including a woman were killed in a fire that broke out in the Manjari facility of the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune, the world’s biggest vaccine unit, which lately has occupied national and international focus because of manufacturing Covid vaccine “Covishield.”
The SII chief executive Adar Poonawalla, however, claimed that despite the mishap, the production and supply of Covishield would not be affected in any way. “Let me assure all that the unfortunate fire accident will not hit the vaccine production,” Poonawalla said.
The deaths were confirmed by Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh three hours after the fire engulfed vaccine production unit around 2.30 P.M. on Thursday and was brought under control by the fire brigade after about two hours.
“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.
All the deceased were claimed to be workers of the contractor undertaking some welding and electrification works in the building where the fire broke out. Though the exact cause of the fire was still to be ascertained, authorities believed it caused by sparks from the welding machines at work in 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.
The state health minister Rajesh Tope said that the fire was caused by welding sparks at the construction site at the SII. “The inflammable material at the site aggravated the fire,” Tope said.
As the smoke filled the building, authorities rushed and evacuated nine people trapped inside and on the rooftop of the building. Initial reports said all the trapped people had been evacuated but only after the fire was extinguished that the five burnt bodies were found at the mishap site.
While expressing grief at the loss of lives in fire, Poonawalla said there would be no loss in vaccine manufacturing because the company has other available facilities. The SII factory manager Vivek Pradhan said the third floor where the fire broke out was a rota-virus lab. “There is no stock of Covishield. The work of electric and pipe fitting was going on and three to four persons of the contractor got trapped on the terrace and were rescued by the fire brigade,” he said.
The world’s largest vaccine manufacturer has been contracted to manufacture a billion doses of the Oxford University – AstraZeneca vaccine. Of the nearly 12 billion coronavirus vaccine doses expected to be produced this year, rich countries have already bought about nine billion and many have options to buy even more. As a result, SII is likely to make most of the vaccines that will be used by developing nations.
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 but the factory sources claimed that it was about one kilometer from the Covishield manufacturing unit.
“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 @PuneCityPolice & Fire Department,” Poonawalla said.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said the state government has ordered a probe into the fire.
The fire broke out on the fourth and fifth floors of the SEZ 3 building in the SII and was brought under control in two hours, police said.
A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team was rushed to the spot, an official said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
