The Latest: Downing Street orders investigation of fridge

By The Associated Press

LONDON – The Latest on the Grenfell Tower fire (all times local):

11:55 a.m.

Downing Street has ordered an immediate examination of the model of refrigerator that is believed to have sparked last week’s Grenfell Tower fire that killed at least 79 people.

Metropolitan Police Detective Supt. Fiona McCormack said the Hotpoint FF175BP fridge-freezer had not been subject to any product recall.

The fire spread quickly through the tower block, leading to concerns that cladding on the building did not meet fire safety rules.

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11:30 a.m.

London Police say manslaughter charges are among moves being considered over the Grenfell Tower fire that killed at least 79 people.

Metropolitan Police Detective Supt. Fiona McCormack says authorities are “looking at every health and safety and fire safety offence and we are reviewing every company at the moment involved in the building and refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.”

McCormack also repeated calls for anyone with information on who might have been in the tower to come forward. The call comes after London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s pledge to seek an amnesty for people who may have been living in the tower illegally.

McCormack says: “What we haven’t got is a picture of how many people might have been in there. That’s the number I’m really worried about.”

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10:50 a.m.

British police investigating the fire at Grenfell Tower in west London in which 79 people are believed to have died say the blaze started in a fridge freezer. They added that insulation and tiles recovered from the building have failed fire safety tests.

Detective Superintendent Fiona McCormack says officers have seized documents in the investigation into the fire.

“What we are being told at the moment by the Building Research Establishment is that the cladding and insulation failed all safety tests,” she told reporters Friday.

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8:55 a.m.

British authorities are studying samples of similar to that used on the west London apartment building that caught fire, killing at least 79 people.

Eleven buildings have now been identified as having combustible cladding such as that used on the Grenfell Tower. The cladding is being studied amid fears that the panels fueled the fire in the 24-story building that was engulfed in less than an hour.

Buildings in London, Manchester and Plymouth are among those where problem cladding has been identified.

Fears about cladding is not limited to apartment buildings, and at least one hotel chain is calling in experts to make certain it meets safety regulations. Premier Inn said Friday it had “concerns” about the material on some of its buildings, though it is different to the type used on Grenfell.

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