Chaos as hundreds forced to evacuate from London tower blocks

Residential areas in north London witnessed chaos and confusion on Saturday as hundreds of residents from four apartment blocks were forced to evacuate amid fears over the buildings' high fire risk.

Some 700 apartments were vacated as buildings were declared unsafe due to the cladding they were covered in, which was also used on the Grenfell Tower block in west London that went up in flames on June 14, leaving at least 79 people dead, Efe news reported.

Over 100 people were evacuated late on Friday from buildings in Camden. They spent the night in a temporary accommodation as the local Council geared up to change the cladding on blocks, a process expected to last some three to four weeks.

Many residents complained on Saturday that they only found out about the evacuation through television and were not properly informed. They were not able to take everything they needed for spending up to a month away from their homes.

Renee Williams, a 90-year-old who has lived in one of the buildings since 1968, said she had only taken an overnight bag with her.

Council sources said they would try to ensure that residents would be allowed to enter their homes alongside firefighters some time over the weekend to collect their belongings.

The decision to evacuate the buildings came after apartment blocks across Britain were inspected to see if they had similar fire hazards as the Grenfell Tower.

Police said on Friday that the fire at Grenfell was started by a faulty refrigerator but quickly spread through the building due to the highly-flammable cladding, as well as tiles and insulation that failed safety tests.

The Camden blocks between 2006 and 2009 were refurbished by the same company that had renovated Grenfell and had the same dangerous cladding.

Around 600 buildings across the country are believed to have similar fire risks, of which at least 20 have been confirmed to have the dangerous and unauthorised cladding.

--IANS

soni/bg