Laurus Labs said that four of its employees recently died following a flash fire in a room in a manufacturing block of its plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

The company, which specialises in anti-retroviral, hepatitis C and oncology drugs, said it has launched an investigation, without giving any other specifics about the incident.

Laurus said its other manufacturing blocks were running normally and that it did not expect any material impact on its operations.

It employs over 5,700 people at more than eight facilities including in the Indian cities of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.