Aberfan

Aberfan (pronounced|aˈbɛrvan) is a small village five miles (8 km) south of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales.

Aberfan disaster

On Friday, October 21, 1966, at 09:15, colliery waste tip number 7 (containing unwanted rock from the local mine) slid down Merthyr Mountain. As it collapsed, it destroyed 20 houses and a farm before going on to demolish virtually all of Pantglas Junior School and part of the separate senior school. The pupils had just left the assembly hall, where they had been singing "All Things Bright and Beautiful", when a great noise was heard outside. Had they left for their classrooms a few minutes later, the loss of life would have been significantly reduced, as the classrooms were on the side of the building nearest the landslide.

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thumb|right|300px|The Aberfan Disaster21 October, 1966In total, 144 people were killed, 116 of whom were children, most of them between the ages of 7 and 10. Five teachers were also killed in the accident. Only a handful of children were rescued from the rubble.

Lord Robens of Woldingham, chairman of the National Coal Board (NCB), did not rush to the scene; he instead went to accept an appointment as chancellor of the University of Surrey. Subsequently, he controversially claimed that nothing could have been done to prevent the slide.

At the Tribunal of Inquiry into the Aberfan Disaster, the NCB was found responsible for the disaster, due to "ignorance, ineptitude and a failure of communication". The collapse was found to have been caused by a build-up of water in the pile and, when a small rotational slip occurred, the disturbance caused the saturated, fine material of the tip to liquefy (thixotropy) and flow down the mountain. In 1958, the tip had been sited on a known stream (as shown on earlier Ordnance Survey maps) and had previously suffered several minor slips. Its instability was known, both to colliery management and to tip workers, but very little was done about it. Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council and the National Union of Mineworkers were cleared of any wrongdoing. No NCB employee was fired, demoted or even disciplined.

The NCB was ordered to pay compensation to the families at the rate of £500 per child.

The public demonstrated their sympathy by donating money, with little idea of how it would be spent. Within a few months, nearly 90,000 contributions had been received, totalling £1,606,929 [http://www.ukresilience.gov.uk/response/recovery_guidance/case_studies/y4_aberfan.aspx] (2008:£21.4m). [http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/historic-inflation-calculator] The management of this fund caused considerable controversy over the years.

After lengthy appeals, part of the fund was used to make the remainder of the waste tip safe and the Coal Board avoided the costs of doing the whole job from its own resources. The Labour government paid back the £150,000 in 1997, although taking account of inflation this should have been nearly £2 million. [http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/historic-inflation-calculator]

Merthyr Vale Colliery was closed in 1989.

In February 2007 the Welsh Assembly announced the donation of £2 million to the Aberfan Disaster Memorial Fund, in part as recompense for the money requisitioned by the government in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

References

* [http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/cgi-bin/anw/search2?coll_id=2439&inst_id=33&term=Aberfan%20%7C%20Wales Archives Network Wales - Glamorgan Record Office] - Aberfan Disaster Inquiry, Chief Surveyor's Papers

External links

* [http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/politics/aberfan/home.htm Aberfan Disaster]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6072202.stm BBC News - Private service remembers Aberfan] - memorial section 21/10/06
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/21/newsid_2705000/2705335.stm BBC – On This Day]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites/aberfan/pages/yourmemories.shtml BBC Wales South East - Your Memories]
* [http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/politics/aberfan/ESRC.html Corporatism and Regulatory Failure: Government Response to the Aberfan Disaster]
* [http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0506/aberfan.html Digital Journalist - Aberfan: The Days After] - by I.C. Rapoport
* [http://www.rapo.com/icrgallery/Aberfan.htm Rapo.com - Photographs of the Aftermath]
* [http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/aberfandisaster.htm Pictures of the Aberfan Disaster]
* [http://www.south-wales.police.uk/fe/master.asp?n1=8&n2=253&n3=492 South Wales Police - The Aberfan Disaster 21st October 1966]
* [http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/politics/aberfan/tri.htm The Tribunal of Inquiry into the Aberfan Disaster]
* [http://www.cymruarywe.org/cayw/collections/en/699693 Wales on the Web - Aberfan Disaster Archive]
* [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=income-from--aberfan-s--pound-2m--will-be-for--memorials-and-children&method=full&objectid=18558175&siteid=50082-name_page.html Income from Aberfan's £2m will be for memorials and children]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2739105 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Aberfan and surrounding area]
* [http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/item10/28994 The Aberfan Disaster from Gathering the Jewels]