Camden evacuates tower block after Grenfell fire

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Ms Gould said experts had been inspecting the buildings since it emerged cladding may have been behind the rapid spread of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Camden Council leader Georgia Gould said around 600 flats have been evacuated due to concerns over "combustible" external cladding, insulation, gas pipes and fire doors.

London Fire Brigade said to council leader Georgia Gould that they can not guarantee the safety of residents as the cladding, Gould said of the cladding it "was not up to the standard that we wanted and was not fire retardant".

The buildings that have been evacuated have similar cladding to Grenfell, so the council have asked people to leave while it is taken off the buildings.

The buildings have been found to be covered with the same type of cladding as used at Grenfell, five miles to the south west, where at least 79 people died in the June 14 tragedy. It did not specify the locations of the buildings.

The Taplow, left, and Bray residential tower blocks on the Chalcots Estate.

The council said it is looking into booking hotels for residents, who could be evacuated for up to four weeks.

"I will continue working closely with all London boroughs, the London Fire Brigade and the Government and we will do everything possible to keep all Londoners safe".

An entire high-rise estate in Camden, north London has been evacuated in fears the building is unsafe.

'The galling (thing is that) the council has hardly had any representative here at the hotel, they've sent representatives from other councils this morning to help them. Repairs on the building are expected to be completed within three to four weeks. Numerous buildings at issue are social housing blocks whose occupants complain of longstanding neglect by the authorities.

Some said they learned about the evacuation on television news before officials came knocking on doors.

"I think it's absolutely disgusting".

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"It did not feel like a situation yesterday where they were going to be evacuating people but clearly they discovered something".

The company added that it was "addressing this as a matter of utmost urgency and assisting the authorities in any way we can".

Dozens refused to leave their homes.

Carl McDowell, 31, said he took one look at the packed inflatable beds offered in the center's gym and went back to his own apartment. Until now, public attention has been focused on external cladding material that is widely used to provide insulation and enhance the appearance of buildings.

It comes after British police confirmed they were looking at filing manslaughter charges in the Grenfell fire.

The department also said exterior cladding attached to the 24-story public housing project during a recent renovation failed safety tests conducted by investigators, and that police have seized documents from a number of organisations.

"We will identify and investigate any criminal offence and, of course, given the deaths of so many people we are considering manslaughter, as well as criminal offences and breaches of legislation and regulations", McCormack told reporters.

The Government has ordered an immediate examination of the refrigerator model that started the blaze - the Hotpoint model FF175BP.

Hotpoint said Friday that "words can not express our sorrow at this bad tragedy" and added it was working with authorities to examine the appliance.

But it added that a relevant building designer would need to consider any changes to components of the cladding systems of construction methods.

Nine victims of the fire have now been formally identified, authorities said, but the number of presumed dead remains at 79. Prime Minister Theresa May also said the government won't penalize any fire survivors in the country illegally.

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