Aberfan Disaster 9.15 Oct 21 1966

[davieG]

I'll never forget this. £1.75 million was collected that's equivalent to £28.75 million today.

 

We Are Wales ·

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Aberfan Never Forgotten

On this day in 1966, the small Welsh village of Aberfan was struck by an unthinkable tragedy. 144 lives were lost 116 of them children when a coal tip collapsed onto their school.

It’s a story that broke Wales’ heart, and one that still brings tears generations later. But it’s also a story of love, unity, and resilience a reminder of how our nation stands together in times of sorrow.

Today, we remember them. Always.

Cofiwch Aberfan.

 

 

On 21 October 1966, the worst mining-related disaster in British history took place in Aberfan, a small village in South Wales.

This harrowing and tragic event started when the nearby colliery ran out of tipping space in the valley floor in 1916. A total of seven tips were then constructed on the hillside overlooking Aberfan village, containing 2.1 million m³ of colliery spoil.

Only one of these tips — Tip 7 — was active at the time of the disaster in 1966. It started to move before 07:00 and it was this tip that collapsed with a deafening roar, avalanching into the village.

The mountainside farmhouse and cottages at Hafod Tanglwys Uchaf lay directly in the path of the slide and were wiped off the map, killing everyone within. One hundred and seven thousand cubic metres of black slurry then hit the disused canal, fracturing the water main that had been laid along it, and leapt over the old railway embankment.

Once in the village, the landslide destroyed 18 houses, Pant Glas Junior School and part of the neighbouring County Secondary School, before finally coming to rest on the Aberfan Road at 09:15.

The last child brought alive from the filthy morass emerged at 11:00. Bodies continued to be found days later. In total, 144 lives were lost, 116 of them children aged mostly between seven and ten who died in their classrooms on the last day before half term. One hundred and nine perished in the junior school. Of the 28 adults who died, five were primary school teachers.

Ted Nield from the Geological Society describes the series of events that led to the disaster at Aberfan in his publication Tipping Point in GeoScientist magazine, published 50 years after the event.

 

 

[davieG]

[leicsmac]

The very worst thing about this horrible tragedy was that it was preventable. 

[Foxdiamond]

I too remember this absolutely awful tragedy. Many of the kids were my sort of age so perhaps registered more because of that. Recall famous BBC reporter Cliff Michelmore being very emotional. 

[davieG]

I was a mid teen and I remember there were collections being mad in all the pubs and nightclubs in Leicester and at work 1.75 million was collected which is about 23mil today.

[Foxdiamond]

5 minutes ago, davieG said:

I was a mid teen and I remember there were collections being mad in all the pubs and nightclubs in Leicester and at work 1.75 million was collected which is about 23mil today.

The NCB took money from the fund to pay for removal of the slag heaps. The money was repaid years later

[davieG]

[indierich06]

I watched the episode of The Crown which covered Aberfan not long ago, absolutely harrowing and stuck with me for a while.

[Parafox]

7 hours ago, indierich06 said:

I watched the episode of The Crown which covered Aberfan not long ago, absolutely harrowing and stuck with me for a while.

 

I was 11 yrs old when it happened, and at junior school. I watched the coverage on TV and it was very hard to think about at the time even as a young person, and the images are still as saddening now as they were then.