Five charred bodies were recovered from the Serum Institute of India building where fire broke out on Thursday afternoon, a fire official said. "Four people were evacuated from the building but when it came under control, five bodies were found by our jawans," said Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol, according to news agency ANI.
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, Mohol added.
Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairman and MD, SII, announced that the vaccine manufacturing company will be offering compensation of Rs 25 lakh to each family, "in addition to mandated amount as per the norms."
"Today is an extremely sorrowful day for all of us at SII. We're deeply saddened and offer our condolences to families of the departed. We'll be offering compensation of ₹25 Lakhs to each family, in addition to mandated amount as per the norms," said Cyrus Poonawalla.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also condoled the deaths caused by the fire incident.
Earlier, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla also expressed condolences for the loss of lives. "We have just received some distressing updates; upon further investigation 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," SII CEO Adar Poonawalla tweeted condoling the deaths.
Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar will visit Serum Institute of India fire site at 7:30 pm on Thursday.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackray held a press briefing following the mishap where he said that six people have been rescued from the affected building. "Six people have been rescued (from fire). Prima facie it seems that the fire was caused by an electric fault. The COVID vaccine is safe. I have not spoken to Adar Poonawalla till now," Uddhav said.
The Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, is involved in manufacturing COVID-19 vaccine Covishield that is developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
A major fire broke out at a building inside Terminal Gate 1 of the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Maharashtra's Pune on Thursday afternoon. 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.
A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team was rushed to the spot, an official said.