Fire outbreak at Serum Institute kills five

By Modupe Shodeinde

A fire which broke out at the Serum Institute of India on Thursday, has been reported to have resulted in the loss of five lives.

Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol said four people had been evacuated but five others had died.

The fire according to the Maharashtra state government could have been caused by an electrical fault during construction work.

SII Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla on Twitter said, “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 however said 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”

Poonawalla, whose family owns Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, was quoted as saying by broadcaster CNBC-TV18 that the fire would mean delays in launching new products and revenue losses of more than 10 billion rupees ($137 million).

He also said equipments worth millions of dollars has been damaged in the fire.

Source: Reuters.