The Aberfan disaster
A colliery spoil tip collapses onto the village of Aberfan, burying Pantglas Junior School and killing 144 people, 116 of them children.
- Aberfan: Government and Disasters — Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Welsh Academic Press (2000)
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
At about 9.15 in the morning on 21 October 1966, the last day before half-term, a waste tip from Merthyr Vale colliery slid down the mountainside above Aberfan after heavy rain. A wave of slurry engulfed Pantglas Junior School and nearby houses, killing 144 people: 116 children and 28 adults, including five teachers.
- Aberfan: Government and Disasters — Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Welsh Academic Press (2000)
The tribunal of inquiry found that the National Coal Board was wholly to blame: the tip had been built over springs, and earlier slips and local warnings had been ignored. Yet no one was prosecuted or dismissed. The chairman of the Coal Board, Lord Robens, at first denied the board could have known about the springs.
- Aberfan: Government and Disasters — Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Welsh Academic Press (2000)
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
Then came a second injustice. The government and the Coal Board required the disaster fund, donated by the public for the bereaved village, to contribute £150,000 towards removing the remaining tips. The money was repaid by the UK government only in 1997, and the Welsh Government added a further £1.5 million in 2007. The Queen, criticised for not visiting until eight days after the disaster, was later said to regret the delay. The rows of white arches in Aberfan’s cemetery remain one of the most painful sights in Wales.
- Aberfan: Government and Disasters — Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Welsh Academic Press (2000)
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
Why it matters today
Aberfan is the deepest single wound of modern Wales. A generation of a village's children died because the National Coal Board ignored warnings, nobody was prosecuted, and money from the disaster fund was used to clear the remaining tips. For many Welsh people it sums up how the coalfield was treated: its people's lives mattered less than the coal.