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. Around 4,000 residents from all five Chalcots towers were initially evacuated, but one of the five was deemed safe and residents allowed to return. Other residents faced chaos, with temporary accommodation offered in a local leisure centre and hotels, but some refused to move.
Camden Council leader Georgia Gould told BBC News that 83 residents had refused to leave, adding the situation "will become a matter for the fire service". Outside one of the leisure centres, evacuees accused the authorities of sowing "panic". "At 8:30pm (1930GMT) yesterday they told us: 'you have to leave', I don't understand why," Murtaza Taha, 27, told AFP. "They made people panic. Inside (the centre), they are all afraid, they are all crying. "They say they are going to find us a place to stay, they say for two to four weeks, but you never believe the council. If they say weeks, they mean months."
Rosie Turner, 27, said she had initially refused to come because of concerns over her nine-week-old baby. "There is nothing for him here, everyone is on top of each other," she explained. "They should have done it in a proper and organised way, we could have arranged to stay with our family," she added. "Today I'm gonna go back to my flat, I don't care."
Gould acknowledged it was "a scary time" but vowed "to make sure that they stay safe. "The cost we can deal with later," she added, explaining that £500,000 on hotel rooms for residents. However, she explained that "there are various legal routes that Camden Council could explore" if people refused to leave their homes. Prime Minister Theresa May said Saturday that the government would do "what is necessary" to ensure people would have somewhere to stay, but Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said May needed to "get a grip" on the response.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017