Aberfan Disaster: Slag Heap Kills 144, Mostly Children
A coal waste tip above the village of Aberfan in South Wales collapsed at 9:15 a.m. on October 21, 1966, sending a black avalanche of slurry down the mountainside and into Pantglas Junior School, where children had just taken their seats for morning lessons. The debris buried the school and 20 houses. A total of 144 people died, including 116 children between the ages of 7 and 10. Rescue workers, many of them miners from nearby collieries, dug with their bare hands for days. The National Coal Board had received warnings about the instability of Tip No. 7 for years and ignored them. The official inquiry blamed the NCB entirely. Families received 500 pounds each in compensation. The government later took 150,000 pounds from the disaster fund to pay for removing the remaining tips.
October 21, 1966
60 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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