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Events/Disaster · 1966

Aberfan disaster

Disaster, 21 October 1966, United Kingdom.

What happened

A colliery tip slid onto Pantglas Junior School and houses, killing 144 people, 116 of them children. A Tribunal appointed on 26 October 1966 under Lord Justice Edmund Davies found that blame rested upon the National Coal Board. Its report (HC 553) was debated in the Commons on 26 October 1967.1,2,3

Why it matters

The Tribunal placed the blame on the National Coal Board.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Coalbrook colliery disaster, South Africa

    Wikidata lists 435 to 437 deaths in one of the worst coal mine disasters on record in Africa.4

  2. Centralia mine fire starts

    Centralia mine fire starts.5

  3. Aberfan disaster

    Aberfan disaster. Wikidata records 144 deaths.6

  4. Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act signed

    It set federal health and safety rules for coal mines.7,8

  5. Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969

    The Act is the British statute on the security of tips. The opened page does not link it to Aberfan.9,10

  6. South Bulli Colliery gas outburst

    The regulator uses it as a case study of gas outbursts at the coalface.11,12

  7. Westray mine explosion

    The inquiry report is titled A Predictable Path to Disaster.13,14

  8. Gretley Colliery inrush

    The inquiry led to changes in how mine plans are checked in New South Wales.15,16

Open the full timeline

Where next

People

Caused byAlfred Robens, Baron Robens of WoldinghamThe Coal Board chairman who admitted fault, offered to resign and was refused.17,18Investigated byHerbert Edmund Davies, Baron Edmund-DaviesHe chaired the 76-day Aberfan inquiry and blamed the Coal Board.18,19

Mines

Located inBig Pit coal mine, BlaenavonA mine from the same area and mineral story: Big Pit coal mine, Blaenavon.1

Events

An example ofMines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969A colliery tip killed 144 at Aberfan in 1966. A 1969 Act covers the security of tips.9ExamplesGresford colliery explosionThree decades on, Aberfan killed 144 people, 116 of them children, under a colliery tip.1

Places

Located inAberfanThe tip slid onto Pantglas Junior School and houses in this Welsh village.1Came out ofBlaenavonBlaenavon is part of this story: Aberfan disaster.20Came out ofSenghenyddSenghenydd is part of this story: Aberfan disaster.21

Sources

  1. The Aberfan Tribunal Glamorgan Archives
  2. Aberfan Disaster debate, 26 October 1967 UK Parliament (Hansard)
  3. Aberfan (item Q3244565), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Wikidata item Q19903859 (Coalbrook mining disaster)
  5. Wikidata item Q16256909 (Centralia mine fire starts)
  6. Wikidata item Q384291 (Aberfan disaster)
  7. Statement on signing the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (30 Dec 1969) American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara)
  8. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969 (c. 10), arrangement of sections UK National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
  10. London (item Q84), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  11. 1991 South Bulli Colliery Outburst case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  12. Bulli (item Q4996904), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  13. The Westray Story: A Predictable Path to Disaster, executive summary Government of Nova Scotia
  14. Westray Mine (item Q3314812), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  15. 1996 Gretley Colliery Inrush case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  16. Newcastle (item Q57278), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  17. Aberfan Disaster (Commons, 26 October 1967) UK Parliament, Historic Hansard
  18. Inquiries into the Aberfan disaster, 21 October 1966 UK Government (Welsh Office/Cabinet Office publications)
  19. Aberfan Glamorgan Archives
  20. Wikidata item Q124670960 (Blaenavon)
  21. Wikidata item Q3404686 (Senghenydd)

Pictures on this page: Lord Edmund Davies.jpg, Rainich (CC BY-SA 4.0).

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Timna in de Negevwoestijn; rotspartij "de zuilen van Salomo", Poll, Willem van de / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Dolcoath tin mine, Camborne, Cornwall: miners in a mine shaft, standing on wooden platforms connected by ladders. Photograph by J. C. Burrow, 1890/1910., Burrow, J. C., 1852-1914 (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Earth Observations taken by the Expedition 15 Crew, NASA JSC (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Mijnramp Bois du Caizier, Marcinelle, België. Schacht, Rossem, Wim van / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).