Throwback Thursday - Aberfan

On Oct 21, 1966, at 9:15 am, a colliery spoil tip collapsed in Aberfan, Wales, causing it to slide downhill as an avalanche of slurry. It completely engulfed a school and a row of houses, killing 116 children and 28 adults. Of the children killed most were between the ages of 7 and 10; 109 children and five adults died inside the school. Twenty-nine children and 6 adults were injured.

There were a number of spoil tips above Aberfan. Tip 7, the one that collapsed, was started in 1958 and at the time of the slide was 34 meters high. The first tips were started above the town in the 1910’s. By 1966 there were seven spoil heaps containing appx 2.6 million cu yd of waste. All tips were directly above the village, but Tip 7 was the only one being used in 1966.

Tips 4, 5, and 7 had been sited on a stream or canal, or on boggy ground. In 1944 Tip 4 slid, coming to a stop 150 meters above the town. In 1963 Tip 7 slid twice. The National Coal Board (NCB) said at the time that it was a natural tailings run and stability was not impacted, and it continued to be worked. Aberfan is an area that receives significant rainfall and experienced severe flooding in the 50’s and early 60’s. Residents stated that flood waters were black and left greasy residue behind. Complaints were made to the NCB, who, after several meetings, agreed in early 1965 to take action on clogged pipes and drainage ditches. Nothing had been done by October 1966 when the tip collapsed.

In 1967 an inquiry found the NCB to blame for the slide, due to lax protocols and procedures and a failure to take safety seriously. Evidence was entered that many had expressed concerns about not only the location of the tips, but the manners in which they were worked. However, several people also stated they were afraid to make formal complaints in case the colliery was closed and their livelihoods destroyed.

The remaining spoil tips were eventually removed after a lengthy fight by residents of Aberfan. Immediately following the disaster a relief and memorial fund raised $1.75 million. The eventual tip removal took $150,000 from the memorial fund, which was paid back in 2007 by the British Government. In 2007 the Welsh Government paid $1.5 million to the fund, and $500,000 to the Aberfan Educational Charity, as recompense for the money that was wrongly taken for tip removal.

Image from Wikipedia