India: Fire broke out at the Serum Institute in the state of Maharashtra, which is producing millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccine, killing five people.

Television images showed thick, rolling clouds rising from a Serum Institute building in Pune, Maharashtra, western India this afternoon.

The burnt complex was reported a few minutes' drive from the Covid-19 vaccine production facility.

"Five people have died", said Murlidhar Mohol, mayor of Pune.

"We are deeply saddened and offer our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased," Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute, tweeted, but did not provide further details.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

The Indian Serum Institute, the world's largest vaccine producer, is producing millions of doses of Covid-19 Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and University of Oxford.

The Serum Institute, founded in 1966 by Cyrus Poonawalla, father of Adar.

The Serum Institute also plans to provide 200 million doses of the Covax Mechanism, an effort led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to purchase and distribute Covid-19 vaccine to poor countries.