5,000 people evacuated from London tower flats over fire risk fears

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A total of 5,000 residents were evacuated from 800 apartments in five Chalcots Estate towers in Camden, London, on Friday night over safety concerns following the Grenfell Tower fire disaster that has claimed at least 79 lives.

The unburned lower floors with untouched cladding still in place are pictured, with the burnt out upper floors above, at remains of the Grenfell Tower block in north Kensington, west London on June 22, 2017 after a fire on June 14, 2017. /AFP Photo

The cladding on the five residential blocks is similar to the materials on Grenfell Tower which failed fire safety checks, according to the London Metropolitan Police. The cladding was widely blamed for the rapid spread of the massive blaze last week.

Following urgent testing of the towers' exteriors, experts said safety could not be guaranteed. As a result, residents were sent to hotels across the city. It is expected work to make the blocks safe will take up to a month.

Residents walk with luggage and possessions as they evacuate from the Taplow Tower residential block on the Chalcots Estate in north London on June 23, 2017 because of fire safety concerns. /AFP Photo

Camden Council, under the lead of Georgia Gould, initially took the decision to evacuate just one of the towers, Taplow, which contains 161 households, but within an hour plans changed and it was decided the whole estate would be evacuated immediately.

Residents leave the Taplow Tower residential block on the Chalcots Estate in north London on June 23, 2017 because of fire safety concerns. /AFP Photo

"Grenfell changes everything and I don't believe we can take any risks," Gould told reporters, as residents left the five Chalcots Estate towers.

"I don't know where we are going to go…One man in a suit said to me 'you can't stay here tonight'…We have been living in these flats for the last 10 years with this cladding," Michelle Urquhart, living in the Chalcots Estate's Bray tower, said, noting that the situation was "frightening".

Residents evacuate from the Taplow Tower residential block on the Chalcots Estate in north London on June 23, 2017 because of fire safety concerns. /AFP Photo

The move came after some experts had predicted the biggest ever mass evacuation of civilians since World War Two, with fears that thousands of buildings may have cladding materials similar to those used in the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

"We are looking at every criminal offence from manslaughter onwards," said Fiona McCormack from London police. Homicide charges may follow in an investigation involving construction and refurbishment companies into the cause of the Grenfell Tower fire, according to the police.

(Sources: Xinhua, AFP)

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