Grenfell shock on Saturday
4,000 residents from 650 London flats evacuated due to fire safety fears
London, June 24: Around 4,000 residents from four housing towers were evacuated on Saturday as the UK government in the wake of the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze found 27 high-rise residential blocks across Britain unsafe, but dozens refused to leave.
Residents of 650 flats in four tower blocks on an estate in the Swiss Cottage area of north London were evacuated by the local Camden Council following tests ordered in the wake of the tower blaze on June 14, which claimed, at least, 79 lives and displaced hundreds others.
The estates evacuated were found to have cladding similar to Grenfell Tower, which Scotland Yard confirmed as a factor for the fire spreading rapidly through the 24-storey building after a fridge-freezer burst in one of the flats. Some 27 high-rise buildings in 15 local authorities have already failed urgent fire tests conducted after Grenfell, the government announced Saturday raising fears that thousands more may need to leave their homes.
Prime Minister Theresa May said that the government would do “what is necessary” to ensure people would have somewhere to stay. Camden Council’s Labour Party leader Georgia Gould told BBC News that 83 residents had refused to leave adding the situation "will become a matter for the fire service". Residents faced chaos with temporary accommodation offered in a local leisure centre and hotels
“I know it’s difficult, but Grenfell changes everything and I just don't believe we can take any risk with our residents' safety and I have to put them first,” Gould said.
Outside one of the leisure centres, evacuees accused the authorities of sowing “panic”. “At 8.30 pm (1930GMT) on Friday they told us: ‘You have to leave’. I don’t understand why,” Murtaza Taha, 27, said. “They made people panic. Inside (the centre), they are all afraid, they are all crying.”