3-102-313 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Tips from directly overhead, May 1963. On 21 October 1966, after days of heavy rain, a colliery spoil tip above the Welsh village of Aberfan slid down the hillside at 9.15am, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and nearby houses. Around 140,000 cubic yards of saturated debris killed 144 people, including 116 children, most aged seven to ten, and 28 adults, five of them teachers, some of whom died trying to protect their pupils. A public inquiry blamed the National Coal Board, concluding the disaster "could and should have been prevented." Even so, no employee or board member was demoted, dismissed, or prosecuted, and the board faced no corporate sanctions or charges, whether for manslaughter or any regulatory offence. The remaining tips were removed only after a long campaign by residents, against resistance from the Board and the government over cost. The village has carried the loss ever since: many residents developed lasting health problems, and around half of survivors have experienced post-traumatic stress at some point in their lives. Plate 1 from "Report of the Tribunal appointed to inquire into the Disaster at Aberfan on October 21st, 1966", [Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, July 1967].