A fire broke out Thursday at India’s Serum Institute, the world’s largest maker of vaccines; but a source said production of the coronavirus vaccine was not affected.
Television channels showed thick clouds of grey smoke billowing from the site in Pune in western India.
The Serum Institute is producing millions of doses of the Covishoeld coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
“It is not going to affect production of the Covid-19 vaccine,” a source at the Serum Institute told AFP; adding that the blaze was at a new plant under construction.
An official at the local fire station told AFP that six or seven firetrucks had reached the site.
“We have no other information… on the extent of the fire or whether anyone is trapped,” the official said.