UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is saddened by the loss of life in a fire at the Pune facility of the Serum Institute of India and hopes that the incident will be fully investigated, said his spokesman.
Five men died after a fire broke out on Thursday in a five-story under-construction building in the Manjari premises of the Serum Institute of India in Pune, police said.
The Manjari facility is where the Covishield vaccines used against the pandemic are made in the nationwide inoculation drive. The building where the fire broke out is one km away from the production unit for the Covishield vaccine.
Obviously, we are saddened by the loss of life and send our condolences to the affected families, and we hope that the fire will be fully investigated, said Stephane Dujarric, Secretary-Spokesman, General’s at Thursday’s daily press briefing.
Dujarric responded to a question as to whether the UN chief had commented on the fire at the Serum Institute, which produces vaccines for COVID-19 in India. CEO Adar Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India said that due to the fire, the production of the Covishield vaccine will not be affected.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of Maharashtra said the state government had ordered a fire probe.
