Serum Institute of India Fire LIVE Updates: SII’s Manjari facility is where Covishield vaccine, used in the nationwide inoculation drive against the coronavirus pandemic, is made, as per reports
A fire has broken out SII’s Pune facility. ANI
A fire broke out at the Serum Institute of India’s Manjari plant in Pune on Thursday afternoon, as per several media reports.
“The fire broke in a building in the premises. We have sent water tenders to the spot,” PTI quoted a fire brigade official as saying.
#UPDATE Maharashtra: Fire continues to rage at the fourth and fifth floors of SEZ3 building inside Terminal Gate 1 of Serum Institute of India in Pune. More details awaited. https://t.co/WF2jVeJejj
— ANI (@ANI) January 21, 2021
As per the news agency, the Manjari facility is where Covishield vaccine, used in the nationwide inoculation drive against the coronavirus
pandemic, is made.
However, a Hindustan Times report quoted SII executive director Dr Suresh Jadhav as saying that the fire broke out at a facility where work related to the BCG vaccine-related was underway and the facility where Covishield, the COVID-19 vaccine, is manufactured and stored is located at a distance from this facility.
A fire brigade official told the Indian Express that the fire broke out the second floor of a new building at the campus. An official who is supervising the rescue operation told the newspaper that four people were stuck when the blaze intensified and three of them have been evacuated. “Efforts are on to safely evacuate the fourth person,” said the officer who is supervising the rescue operation.
India has approved two vaccines – Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Oxford/AstraZeneca’s Covishield being manufactured by SII.
With inputs from PTI
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