Aberfan Disaster

In 1966, 116 children and 28 adults were killed when a mountain of spoil tip waste collapsed on the village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. Spoil heaps — man-made piles of waste materials from coal mining — had been built directly above the village when the colliery ran out of tipping space. This waste was the responsibility of the National Coal Board (NCB).

October 1966 saw a period of heavy rain. On 21st October the heap gave way and slid towards the village. The heavy, fast-moving spoil collapsed and buried Pantglas Junior School and neighbouring houses. The avalanche destroyed two water mains which added millions of gallons of water to the spoil slurry.

Classrooms were demolished and filled with mud and rubble. Staff died trying to protect the children using their bodies and classroom equipment. When the landslide stopped it became solid and created a mound of slurry 30 feet high.

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For years local officials and residents had warned the NCB about the instability of colliery tips above the village. To avoid blame, the NCB claimed the disaster was an unforeseeable tragedy.

The MP for Merthyr Tydfil, S.O Davis, did not speak out about possible tip slides for fear the colliery would be closed.

In 1968, the government took £150,000 from the Aberfan Disaster Fund to help pay for the NCB to remove the remaining dangerous tips from the village. This money was not returned until 1997, following representations by local people.

“The Coal Board blamed everybody but itself. It blamed the weather, the rain, the springs in the tip, everything except its own failure and neglect”

Gwynfor Evans MP

“The failure of the National Coal Board to accept liability for the Aberfan Disaster and the taking of money from the Aberfan Disaster Fund for the removal of the waste coal tips were the two main injustices that were faced by the people of Aberfan in the aftermath of the disaster. Both these injustices built the resilience and determination of the Village to fight back and get justice for the community of Aberfan”

Jeffrey Edwards MBE, Aberfan survivor