An investigation is continuing after 80 residents were evacuated from a tower block fire in Dagenham.
Replacing unsafe cladding is "urgent" and making existing homes secure must come before building new ones, a safety advisor has urged.
More than 80 people were evacuated from the tower block in Dagenham, two were taken to hospital and all of the building’s occupants have been accounted for, according to London Fire Brigade . BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds said latest government figures show 50% of these buildings have either had work to replace the cladding start or been completed.'Everybody was scared' - Dagenham resident who escaped fire
A planning application document also details "remedial" work being undertaken to remove and replace "non-compliant cladding" on the fifth and sixth floors containing flats. Mr Kannaiah said he had opened the window to see flames after his wife told him the scaffolding outside was on fire.“We opened the door and saw people rushing towards the stairs. We somehow got out of the building with our baby."The father of the six-year-old girl told the BBC that his friends and daughter were “calm now, but terrified” when the fire broke out.
The resident, who did not wish to be named, said his neighbour had been doing the same for all the flats in the corridor.The Fire Brigades Union said the incident exposed the "'national scandal' of flammable cladding and deregulation in the building industry".
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Dagenham flats fire shows urgent safety action is neededThe fire safety risks of cladding-removal may have been underestimated
Read more »
Dagenham fire: Mother who fled tower block blaze says fire gate had been 'padlocked shut'Cydney Parker, 26, also said the fire alarms in the building had gone off for 'no reason' many times but when the residents needed them 'they didn't go off'.
Read more »
Dagenham fire: Residents describe escape after homes evacuated from tower block engulfed by flamesA tower block in east London caught fire in the early hours of bank holiday Monday. It was covered in 'non-compliant cladding' and around 80 people, including children, have been evacuated. Another 20 were rescued. The Mayor of London has urged people to avoid the area.
Read more »
Huge fire breaks out at east London tower block hours after Dagenham flats blazeBlack smoke billows out of a multi-storey tower block at New Providence Wharf, a residential and commercial development area near the Blackwall tunnel.
Read more »
Dagenham fire building was office-to-residential conversionThe apartment block of 60 flats was originally the offices of chemical giant DuPont
Read more »
Revealed: Dagenham fire building was office to residential conversionThe apartment block of 60 flats was originally the offices of chemical giant DuPont
Read more »