A massive fire broke out on Thursday afternoon at an under-construction unit of the Serum Institute of India (SII) that manufactured the first batch of Oxford University-AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield' on Saturday last. However, an SII official assured that the facility where the COVID vaccines are stored isn't located in this plant.

As per reports, at least 10 fire tenders are present at the site of the incident to douse the flames.

It has been reported by the Times of India that the fire occurred on the fifth floor of the Manjari plant.

"The facility where Covishield vaccine is manufactured and stored is far away from this facility", said SII executive director Suresh Jadhav to TOI.

More details are awaited.