WALES
In 1966, coal-tip waste engulfed a school, killing 144. It might happen again...
CGTN


At 9.13am on October 21, 1966, Pantglas junior school in Wales was hit by an avalanche of coal waste that slid down the hillside above the school at a terrifying speed. It killed 116 schoolchildren, and 28 adults died as a row of terraced houses was also hit by the mining slurry.

Even today, the name of the village – Aberfan – still brings memories of horror. It was a disaster like no other in a country that had already endured countless mining disasters after thousands died underground in the collieries of Senghenydd, Gresford, Abercarn, Cilfynydd, Ferndale and many more.

But this disaster didn't happen to miners deep under the Earth's surface. It happened to the villagers, above ground.

Coal spoil, or mining waste was often dumped on hillsides in the narrow valleys of Glamorgan and Gwent. At the industry's peak, a quarter of a million people were employed in the South Wales coalfield. That industry may have dwindled – but the threat remains.

To mark the Aberfan anniversary, CGTN Europe's Iolo ap Dafydd went to the Welsh Valleys to speak to locals and experts who fear history may sickeningly repeat itself. In 2020, more than 60,000 tonnes of coal waste slid down the hill above Tylorstown in the Rhondda Fach valley.

On that occasion nobody died, but there are hundreds of waste tips dotting the landscape – while authorities remain worryingly silent on where precisely they are, and what is being done to keep the safe.

It couldn't happen again.... could it?

For more, see CGTN's multimedia special A Mountain Threat.

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