Aberfan disaster: bodies, film, victims, prime minister, survivors, the crown

On the morning of October 21, 1966, a landslide of coal waste collapses onto a small Welsh mining community, killing 116 children and 28 adults. The disaster killed half of the town’s young and left only five survivors. The Aberfan tragedy became one of the worst coal mining mishaps in British history.

The avalanche hurled 140,000 cubic yards of coal waste down the slope where Merthyr Vale Colliery stood, demolishing farmhouses, cottages, residences, and part of the adjoining County Secondary School. The avalanche is suspected to have been caused by substandard construction and a buildup of water in one of the colliery’s spoil tips—piles of waste material removed during mining.

During the Industrial Revolution, Wales was well-known for its coal mining. Aberfan’s colliery began operations in 1869 and ran out of waste storage capacity on the mountain valley level by 1916. It subsequently began tipping on the mountainside above the hamlet, amassing seven tips comprising 2.7 million cubic yards of colliery debris by 1966.

Aberfan’s town council contacted the National Coal Board years before the tragedy to voice their worries about the spoil tips left behind after a non-lethal accident on the colliery. At the time, no action was made to rectify the problem. The tip that dropped on October 21 covered previously slid material.

The tragedy drew great national attention. Queen Elizabeth II did not visit the disaster scene until eight days later; she subsequently stated that not attending sooner was one of her greatest regrets.

The Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act was passed in 1969 to, among other things, add rules for employing mining tips.

Aberfan disaster: bodies, film, victims, prime minister, survivors, the crown

Aberfan disaster bodies

At the end of the day, 60 dead had been collected from the disaster area. The ultimate death toll was 144, with 116 casualties being youngsters – over half of the school’s students.

Aberfan disaster film

The Green Hollow (or Aberfan: The Green Hollow) is a “film poem” broadcast by the BBC on October 21, 2016, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the 1966 Aberfan catastrophe. Owen Sheers developed the screenplay from the words of catastrophe survivors that he interviewed over time

Aberfan disaster victims

116 of the 144 persons killed in the tragedy were children, predominantly between the ages of 7 and 10; 109 of the children died at Pantglas Junior School. Five of those killed were teachers. Six more adults and 29 children were hurt.

Aberfan disaster prime minister

While Prince Philip, Lord Snowdon, and then-Prime Minister Harold Wilson went to the scene the next day, the Queen waited eight days before heading to the village of Merthyr Tydfil, arriving shortly after a huge burial.

Aberfan disaster survivors

Some youngsters miraculously survived. Karen Thomas, seven, and four other children in the school hall were saved by their heroic dinner lady, Nansi Williams, who risked her life by falling on top of them to protect them from the slurry.

Aberfan disaster, the crown

One of the films on the Aberfan catastrophe is The Crown.
Instead of filming at Aberfan, the production moved to Cwmaman, a former coal mining town in the heart of Wales. The crew utilized existing rows of homes and returned the house facades to their 1960s incarnations by repainting doors, changing windows, and adjusting anything that appeared too contemporary.