London police raise apartment tower fire toll to 80

LONDON - The Latest on the London high-rise fire (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

British police have increased the toll in the Grenfell Tower fire to 80 dead or presumed dead.

Metropolitan Police Det. Supt. Fiona McCormack was updating reporters Wednesday on the June 14 inferno. Police had previously said the fire claimed at least 79 lives.

Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May said authorities have tested 120 high-rise buildings in dozens of areas across Britain and found that all were fitted with external cladding panels that failed fire safety tests.

Flammable cladding has been blamed for the rapid spread of the Grenfell blaze.

___

1:30 p.m.

British Prime Minister Theresa May says that 120 high-rise buildings in 37 parts of Britain have failed fire-safety tests - a 100-percent failure rate.

Authorities are urgently testing buildings' cladding in the wake of the June 14 blaze at London's Grenfell Tower, which killed at least 79 people.

Fire officials say panels affixed to the building's exterior helped the blaze, which began with a refrigerator fire, shoot up the 24-story tower.

The tragedy has prompted hard questions about building regulation and fire safety.

Political leaders are trading accusations about who is to blame. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said Wednesday that it showed "the terrible consequences of deregulation and cutting corners."

But May said "there is a very wide issue here" that can't be pinned on any single government.