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Sixty high-rise buildings fail safety tests after London fire: UK government

People carry personal possessions as they leave the Dorney Tower residential block, as residents were evacuated as a precautionary measure following concerns over the type of cladding used on the outside of the buildings on the Chalcots Estate in north London, Britain, June 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

LONDON (Reuters) - Sixty high-rise buildings have failed safety tests carried out after a fire killed at least 79 people in London earlier this month, the British government said on Sunday. British officials are conducting tests on some 600 high-rise buildings across England after fire ravaged the Grenfell tower block in west London on June 14, prompting public anger over the Conservative government's budget cuts. On Friday some 4,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes in north London after the fire brigade ruled that their blocks were unsafe. The Department for Communities said in a statement that 60 high rise buildings across 25 local authority areas had now failed the tests. (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Gareth Jones)