At least six people have been injured in a fire at a unit of a privately held pharmaceutical company in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on Friday, the police said.

Two of the injured were hospitalised with critical burns after a fire broke out in a solvent reactor at a unit of Sahithi Pharma, District Superintendent of Police Murali Krishna said on telephone.

The Indian Express newspaper said two people had died. Reuters could not independently verify the deaths.

“We’re still gathering details on how many people were inside at the time of the incident (and are) yet to identify the exact reason for the accident,” Krishna added.

Sahithi Pharma did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

At least two fire trucks were rushed to the location and rescue operations are underway, Krishna said.

The chief minister’s office has “taken note of the incident and will conduct a detailed inquiry”, state Information Technology and Industries minister Gudivada Amarnath told Reuters.