According to a Bombay Stock Exchange filing the fire occurred in a powder processing area at Aurobindo’s drug intermediate and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) facility in Pydibhimavaram, Srikakulam near Vizag in Andhra Pradesh on Monday morning.
“Three persons were injured and they were taken to the hospital. The powder processing area is isolated from the intermediate block. There was no impact to the operations as well as to the assets.”
The firm was unable to respond to in-Pharmatechnologist.com’s request for more information ahead of publication. Various reports in the Indian press suggest the incident occurred during routine cleaning operations.
IBNLive reported that: “While workers were washing trays of a dryer with solvents…the dryer wherein drug material is classified before it goes to packaging caught fire” adding that the firm cut power to the block to bring the fire under control.
Aurobindo did not provide any more information on the condition of the injured employees.
According to the Deccan Chronicle the three, chemist M Veerraju and assistants K Ramappadu and Mohan Nayak, suffered severe burns and remain in a critical condition at the Seven Hills Hospital in nearby Visakhapatnam.