The Aberfan disaster

The Aberfan disaster remains one of the worst mining accidents in British history. The incident occurred on 21^st October 1966 when a colliery spoil tip, or slag heap, collapsed, killing 116 children and 28 adults. The tip was the responsibility of the National Coal Board and the inquiry into the accident placed the blame on the organisation, naming nine employees in the process.

Background

Aberfan is located in Mid Glamorgan, Wales, just a few miles from Merthyr Tydfil. When the Merthyr Vale Colliery was sunk in 1896, Aberfan only had two cottages and an inn, but the population grew rapidly with the expansion of the region’s coal mines. By the time of the disaster, roughly 5000 people were living in Aberfan, with the majority employed by the Coal Board.

Aberfan was surrounded by valleys, onto which the spoil from the coal mine was deposited. By 1966 when the disaster took place, there were seven spoil heaps and there had been a slip previously, which had left Tip 4 misshapen. Five of the tips were all directly above the village. By 1966, only Tip 7 was in use.

The particular area of Glamorgan where Aberfan is located is known to receive a relatively high level of rainfall compared to other areas in Wales. In the years leading up to the disaster, there had been severe flooding on at least 11 occasions and residents had previously complained that the flood water had been black and left a residue. These complaints were acknowledged by the Coal Board and a number of meetings between the Board and residents took place, with plans made to ensure proper maintenance of pipes and drainage ditches, however, these plans had not been put into motion prior to the disaster.

Tips 4 and 7

Tip stability is often affected by water conditions and Tips 4,5 and 7 were all placed on top of areas with running water – these areas of water were common knowledge in the area and had been marked on maps of the region since the 1870s.

Despite this, Tip 4, which had not been in use since 1945, was built on an area of boggy ground between two streams. It was the belief at the time that it was unlikely to collapse, despite the running water below it, however, in the 1940s, there was some ground movement, which led to the creation of a drainage channel. In 1944, Tip 4 had a slip, with part of it sliding down towards the village, stopping around 500 feet above it. A few years before the Aberfan disaster, there was also a slippage on Tip 7, though its stability remained unaffected and spoil continued to be deposited there.

The disaster

In the weeks leading up to the disaster, there was heavy rain, culminating in the peak of Tip 7 subsiding during the night of the 20^th October. The subsidence caused a hole to open at the top of the tip and the rails on which the spoil was transported to the top, falling into the hole. The issue was spotted at 7.30am by the workers on the morning shift, who reported it to the colliery, they were joined at the tip by a supervisor, who decided that no further work would be done near the tip that day and a new tipping position would be decided on in the following week.  

At 9.15am a significant amount of water saturated debris broke away from the top of the tip and flowed downhill at up to 21 miles per hour. At this time, around 140,000 cubic yards of spoil slid 700 yards down the mountain, destroying two cottages and killing the occupants. Around 50,000 cubic yards then travelled across the canal and railway embankment and into the village, destroying two water mains and striking Pantglas Junior School, demolishing much of the building and filling the classrooms with sludge and rubble. Registration for the day’s lessons had begun only minutes before, 109 children and five teachers were killed in the school. The adjacent secondary school was also damaged and a further 18 houses were destroyed. Once the spoil came to a halt, it began to resolidify, blocking off the area and causing hundreds to evacuate their homes.

After the landslide stopped, residents rushed to the schools and began digging through the rubble in an attempt to retrieve the children and staff. The first reports came into Merthyr Tydfil police at around 9.25am. Within 20 minutes of the disaster, a group of miners from the colliery arrived in the town, having been raised from the mine and began rescue efforts. They knew that excavation could lead to further collapsing and damage, and so directed the early digging, organised into groups under the management of their shift supervisors.

The first casualties from the school began to arrive at nearby hospitals from 9.50am, with the remaining casualties arriving between 10 and 11am. No survivors were found after 11am. 144 people died in total, 116 of which were children, aged between 7 and 10. 109 died within the school itself, five of the adults were teachers or workers at the school who had died trying to protect the children in their charge. An additional 6 adults and 29 children were injured. After the disaster featured on the BBC news, thousands of volunteers travelled to the area to help.

The aftermath

The landslide had broken two watermains, which continued to pump water into the spoil and contributed to the debris continuing to move through the village. The water board attempted to turn the water off, something that wasn’t managed until 11.30am. With movement from the upper slopes still a possibility, workers from the National Coal Board began to dig a drainage channel to stabilise the ground. It took two hours to reroute the water and stop the flow of debris.

Later the same day, the Secretary of State for Wales, Cledwyn Hughes, and the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson visited to hear reports and speak to residents. They decided that there would need to be a high level inquiry and that evening, the Mayor of Merthyr Tydfil launched the Aberfan Disaster Fund. Over the following days, members of the royal family and the armed forces also visited the town to help with rescue efforts.

The tribunal into the disaster concluded in April the following year and found that blame rested with the National Coal Board and certain individuals. It did however say that no blame lay with Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council or the National Union of Miners. Several recommendations were made, including extending the Mines and Quarries Act to cover tips and a formation of a National Tip Safety Committee to advise the government on safeguarding spoil tips.

Following the disaster, the residents of Aberfan experienced a range of medical problems, including PTSD, sleeping difficulties, nervousness and other health problems. The National Coal Board was not prosecuted, and no staff were demoted, sacked or prosecuted. Many residents petitioned for the tips to be removed, but the government and the coal board were unwilling to pay the price, the money for the removal of the tips was eventually taken out of the Aberfan Disaster Fund.

The Merthyr Vale Colliery closed in 1989. In 1997, Ron Davies, the Secretary of State for Wales at the time, repaid the disaster fund the money it had contributed to the cost of the tip removal, though this did not account for inflation. In 2007, the Welsh Government announced a donation of £1.5 million to the Aberfan Memorial Charity and £500,000 to the Aberfan Education Charity, which represented an inflation-adjusted amount for the donation from the disaster fund. The money was used to upkeep the memorials.

A memorial sculpture can be seen at the Rhondda Heritage Museum and the cemetery and memorial garden are listed on the CADW register.

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