Fire started in Hotpoint fridge

Giant panda Shin Shin holding her week-old cub (inset) as she feeds on bamboo shoots at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in Japan on Tuesday. The zoo celebrated the first birth of a baby panda in five years on June 12, with the tiny cub small enough to fit in the palm of a human hand. AFP PIC LONDON: A fire that killed at least 79 people at a London tower block started in a Hotpoint fridge freezer, and the outside cladding engulfed by the blaze has since been shown to fail safety tests, London police said yesterday.

Detective Superintendent Fiona McCormack said police were considering manslaughter charges over the disaster.

She said the Hotpoint model, FF175BP, involved was not subject to recall and the manufacturer was doing further tests.

“We now have expert evidence that the fire was not started deliberately,” McCormack said.

Britain ordered an immediate technical examination of the Hotpoint fridge model to establish whether further action needed to be taken, but said there was no need for owners to switch off their appliances.

Whirlpool Corp, the world’s largest maker of home appliances, owns the Hotpoint brand in the Europe and Asia-Pacific regions.

“We are working with the authorities to obtain access to the appliance so that we can assist with the investigations,” Whirpool said in a statement.

Police said the insulation and tiles used in cladding at the Grenfell Tower block failed post-fire safety tests.

“Preliminary tests showed the insulation samples collected combusted soon after the test started,” McCormack said.

Such were their concerns after the tests that the information was immediately shared with the government to disseminate more widely. Reuters