Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is set to visit the Serum Institute of India's (SII) Manajri facility today, where a fire incident led to the deaths of five people.
As per the information shared by CMO on Twitter, Thackeray will visit the facility to inspect and take stock of the situation at noon.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar visited the building on Thursday evening.
Five men died after a fire broke out in a five-storeyed under-construction building in the Serum Institute of India's Manjari premises in Pune on Thursday, police said.
All were construction workers whose bodies were recovered by fire brigade personnel from the fifth floor, police said, adding nine others were evacuated from the spot.
Covishield vaccine production won't be hit due to the fire, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla said.
The Manjari facility is where the Covishield vaccines used in the nationwide inoculation drive against the pandemic are made. The building where fire broke out is one km from the Covishield vaccine manufacturing unit, sources said.
Mayor Murlidhar Mohol said fire officials recovered the five bodies during the cooling operation.
Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said the state government has ordered a probe into the fire.
The fire, which broke out at 2.45 pm on the fourth and fifth floors of the building, was brought under control in two hours, police said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Namrata Patil told PTI that nine people were evacuated from the building.
Viral visuals from the site showed smoke billowing out from the Serum Institute facility.
Chief Fire Officer Prashant Ranpise said 15 water tankers were pressed into action and the fire was brought under control around 4.30 pm.
Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.5 billion doses) which includes Polio vaccine as well as Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hib, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines, as per the company's website.
(With inputs from agencies)
