Cladding danger for 600 towers in England
Print Edition
AN estimated 600 highrise buildings in England contain cladding similar to that used on a London tower block which caught fire, killing at least 79 people, officials said yesterday.
Flames spread rapidly up the 24-story residential Grenfell Tower last week, trapping people inside, in what was Britain’s worst blaze since World War II. Exterior cladding added during a refurbishment may have played a part, residents have said.
The disaster in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea heaped pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May, already fighting for political survival after her party lost its parliamentary majority in this month’s snap election.
The Grenfell tragedy has acted as a focal point for anger at local authority funding cuts. There have been accusations of criminal negligence and the government faces an uphill task to rehouse people within the country’s stretched social housing scheme.
“The estimate provided to us by councils is that there are approximately 600 highrise buildings with similar cladding,” May’s spokeswoman told reporters. Government had no estimates yet for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, she said.
“In terms of the people who are living in those buildings, we will do a further test to make sure the buildings are safe — obviously nobody will be living in buildings that are unsafe.”
Earlier, May announced that cladding used on some buildings had been found to be combustible.
May has launched a public inquiry into the fire and police have announced a criminal investigation.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
