Aberfan disaster

The Aberfan disaster was the catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip in the Welsh village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil on 21 October 1966. The tip slid down the mountain at 9.15 am, onto the local junior school, and on into the town, destroying several homes. 116 children and 28 adults were killed. The collapse was caused by the build-up of water in the accumulated rock and shale tip, which suddenly slid downhill in the form of slurry.There were seven spoil tips on the slopes above Aberfan; tip seven—the one that slip onto the village—was begun in 1958 and, at the time of the disaster, it was 111 feet (34 m) high. The tip was partly based on ground from which water springs emerged, despite this being against the guidelines set for itself by the tip's owner, the National Coal Board (NCB). After three weeks of heavy rain, approximately 140,000 cubic yards (110,000 m3) of spoil slipped away from the tip, down the side of the hill and onto the Pantglas area of the village; the main building hit was Pantglas Junior School, where lessons had just begun. Five teachers and 109 children were killed in the school.An official inquiry was chaired by Lord Justice Edmund Davies. The report blamed the NCB for extreme negligence. The organisation's chairman, Lord Robens was criticised for making misleading statements and for not providing clarity to the NCB's knowledge of the presence of water springs on the hillside. Neither the NCB or any of its employees were prosecuted and the organisation was not fined.