Fallout from this month’s catastrophic apartment tower fire keeps spreading across the UK, with more inspection failures and an order to vacate unsafe apartment buildings.
All 60 high-rise buildings that have been tested so far for fire-resistant cladding have failed, a UK government spokesman told CNN on Sunday.
Those 60 buildings are among 600 across the country set to be tested for potentially dangerous cladding, or siding, in light of the June 14 blaze that engulfed Grenfell Tower. The inferno killed 79 people and cast a spotlight on conditions faced by some Londoners in apartment tower blocks.
Camden Councillor Georgia Gould announced last week that about 800 households would be evacuated from five apartment towers, as the residents’ safety could not be guaranteed.
Those living in buildings deemed unsafe by fire officials “must leave,” the Camden Council said in a statement.
“By remaining in the blocks, these residents risk delaying the work that is required and that we are undertaking to make these homes safe,” the statement said. “It is not safe to remain in these blocks, and our residents’ safety will continue to be the Council’s number one priority.”
Residents will have to live elsewhere for four to six weeks while external cladding on those buildings is removed. They will be moved to temporary housing, which includes hotels and homes of friends and family.
As for the Grenfell Tower investigation, police said they are considering manslaughter charges among the criminal offenses that may have been committed at the high-rise building.
