Ghazal singer Talat Aziz's Juhu house gutted in blazing inferno

MUMBAI: Veteran ghazal singer Talat Aziz, his wife and two sons were among five persons hospitalised for suffocation after a fire gutted their duplex apartment in Juhu late Friday night. They were treated at Bharatiya Arogya Nidhi Hospital and discharged Saturday, said civic officials.

The fire was reported at 10.56 pm Friday and spread to electrical wiring and installations, sofa and split air-conditioner on the ground floor of the five-storey building where the family has lived since 40 years.

Mumbai Fire Brigade swiftly controlled the blaze by 11.58 pm. Police, Adani Electricity and civic ward staff were mobilised. Fire officials are yet to ascertain the source of the blaze.

The singer, 70, his wife Bina, 65, who is a painter, and their sons Shayaan, 30, and Adnan, 25, as well as one Sikandar Singh, 45, experienced suffocation.

Talat Aziz told TOI, "It was a blazing inferno that erupted suddenly at 11.00 pm Friday. I was watching TV in the hall downstairs while Bina was upstairs. An air conditioner in the hall, which was not even switched on, sparked and emanated fire. Within minutes the blaze spread to the curtains, and blinding black smoke billowed out.