5 killed in a major fire at Serum Institute of India

  • Five workers were killed in the major fire broke out at a plant of the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Manjri area of Pune.
  • The fire broke out at an under-construction building at the Serum Institute's premises.
  • Prima facie it seems that the fire was caused by an electric fault.

SERUM INSTITUTE OF INDIA 

  • Founded: 1966 by Cyrus S. Poonawalla.
  • CEO: Adar Poonawalla.
  • The Serum Institute of India is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer.
  • It is manufacturing the Covishield vaccine developed by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca. 
  • Covishield is one of the two Covid-19 vaccines that have been granted emergency use approval in India. 
  • Officials clarified that fire at the Serum Institute has not affected the production of Covishield vaccine.

FIRE ACCIDENTS IN INDIA

  • In the India Risk Survey 2019, significant events of fire outbreaks have been reported from different parts of the country.
  • From 2010 to 2014, the number of deaths due to Electric Short Circuit was about 7,743 or 7% of all the deaths. 
  • An average of 62 deaths a day happened due to fire accidents from 2010 to 2014.

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