Aberfan disaster: 144 killed when coal tip collapsed on school

A coal waste tip collapsed above the village of Aberfan in South Wales on October 21, 1966, killing 116 children and 28 adults. The disaster struck Pantglas Junior School on the last morning before the half-term holiday.

Tip Number Seven, part of the Merthyr Vale Colliery spoil heap, had stood on the hillside above the village for years. Residents had raised concerns about the danger the tips posed, and the ground was partly affected by natural springs.

“It was starting to come back up.”

Heavy rain saturated the spoil, and at about 9:15 am a vast mass of black coal waste swept downhill. It engulfed the school, crushing classrooms and trapping children, teachers and other staff.

Miners, parents and neighbours rushed to the scene and dug with shovels and their bare hands. Emergency services and volunteers poured into the village, but according to the National Library of Wales nobody was found alive after 11 am.

Families identified their loved ones and began to bury their dead in the days that followed. The white arches at Aberfan Cemetery and the memorial garden on the school site remain places of national remembrance.