SWABI: Precious tobacco worth approximately Rs200 million was reduced to ashes as a huge fire broke out in a three-story warehouse before dawn here on Thursday, said Rescue 1122 officials.

The warehouse was full to its capacity as `white patta` (WP) tobacco was stored there, which is used both in `naswar` and cigarettes. Four firefighters identified as Hiwad Khan, Dawood Khan, Rohal Ameen, Atif Khan became unconscious due to extreme heat during the operation, and were shifted to Bacha Khan Teaching Hospital Shahmansoor.

The incident occurred in Azamabad area, tehsil Razaar, and in view of the fast spreading and intense fire, the district administration immediately contacted and requested for additional fire extinguishers and firefighters from Mardan, Nowshera, and Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate, to control the fire.

The district emergency officer Swabi, Owais Babar, who led the operation said: `As soon as the incident was reported to Rescue 1122 control room, they immediately rushed to the spot along with the TMA firefighters and vehicles to extinguish the fire.

Owais Babar said that the firefighters faced extreme difficulty in extinguishing the fire as the building was completely covered from all sides; therefore, reaching out the raging inferno on the top of the building was very difficult and risky. `But our firefighters didn`t care for their lives and continued their efforts to stop the fire from spreading further,` he remarked.

VISIT: Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (GIKI) hosted a high-level delegation from the HBL led by its president and CEO, Muhammad Nassir Salim,. The visit marked a pivotal step towards academia-industry collaboration to shape up the country`s digital future.

A statement issued on Thursday said that during the strategic dialogue, the HBL`s leadership showed keen interest in innovation-led growth, talent development, and collaborative R&D initiatives. The discussion focused on emerging technologies such as block chain, cyber security, IP sharing frameworks, electric vehicles (EVs), spectral analytics, and agri tech.

Internship programmes, real world problem statements, and potential faculty attachments with the HBL were also discussed. Correspondent