A generation wiped out in five minutes

It took just five minutes for the coal tip above Aberfan to slide down the mountain and engulf a farm, several houses and a school.

Pupils at Pantglas Junior School had just returned to their classes after singing All Things Bright and Beautiful at morning assembly when the tragedy struck.

The rushing landslide of mud and debris flooded into their classrooms.

Some children were able to escape, but 116 were killed and 28 adults also died.

As news of the devastation spread, people turned up to volunteer in the rescue attempt.

They spent days digging at the scene, athough all the survivors were found in the first few hours of the spillage.

The community was devastated and the whole country was shocked and saddened by the tragedy.

After the event the National Coal Board (NCB) said abnormal rainfall had caused the coal waste to slip. An official inquiry later blamed the NCB for extreme negligence.

When the report was published it had no qualms about making perfectly clear who was to blame:

It read: “The Aberfan Disaster is a terrifying tale of bungling ineptitude by many men charged with tasks for which they were totally unfitted, of failure to heed clear warnings, and of total lack of direction from above.

“Not villains but decent men, led astray by foolishness or by ignorance or by both in combination, are responsible for what happened at Aberfan.

“Blame for the disaster rests upon the National Coal Board.

“This is shared, though in varying degrees, among the NCB headquarters, the South Western Divisional Board, and certain individuals.

“The legal liability of the NCB to pay compensation of the personal injuries, fatal or otherwise, and damage to property, is incontestable and uncontested.”