Five London towers evacuated over fire safety fears

London : Residents of 800 London flats were hurriedly evacuated Saturday due to fire safety fears over their tower blocks' external cladding, after urgent testing prompted by the deadly Grenfell Tower inferno.

The cladding on the five Chalcots Estate towers is similar to that used on Grenfell, widely blamed for the rapid spread of the massive blaze last week that is presumed to have killed 79 people.

The dramatic decision follows urgent testing of the towers' exteriors, which were installed by the same contractor as the Grenfell Tower. As a result, Chalcots residents were being sent to hotels across the city.

Just hours earlier, police said that manslaughter charges could be brought over the Grenfell inferno, after finding that the fire started with a faulty fridge and the building's cladding had failed safety tests.

"Grenfell changes everything and I don't believe we can take any risks," said Georgia Gould, leader of the Camden Council local authority, told reporters, as residents left the five Chalcots Estate towers.

"We could not be sure that people could be safe."

"We had to do this. We have to act on fire service advice."