Aberfan: the Preventable Disaster.

Shortly after nine in the morning of October 21st, 1966 one hundred and forty-four people had their lives extinguished beneath thousands of tons of colliery rubbish which had broken away from the tip that dominated the small South Wales village of Aberfan.

No fewer than 116 of the victims were children aged between the ages of 7 and 10.

The Report of the Tribunal that investigated the collapse of the tip concluded that "the disaster was preventable."

Under examination National Coal Board responsible for operating British coal mines stonewalled, and prevaricated, and attempted to evade responsibility. Its chairman Lord Robens interviewed on TV tried to pass it off as some kind of unforeseeable fluke happening.
It took forty-nine days of close cross-examination by the Tribunal before the NCB grudgingly admitted that they were aware of the conditions of Tip 7 and that it had been in a "highly vulnerable state". One official finally admitted under questioning that “there were signs of failure and degrees of failure on the tip from about 1963 onward.”

There had been previous slides of waste in the same area in 1939, 1944, and 1958. Locals in Aberfan had raised concerns regarding the dangerous conditions of the tip. The Borough Engineer had written to the NCB on more than one occasion saying he was “very apprehensive” regarding “the deposit of slurry on the existing tip at the rear of the Pantglas Schools.” Nothing had been done.

As far back as 1939 the then privately owned Powell Dyffryn mine had issued a guidance memorandum outlining safety precautions regarding the tipping of mining waste. It advised a limit to the height of tips; warned not to tip waste over springs of water; and warned not to mix different types of waste. These recommendations were ignored by the NCB. Indeed they had no system of regular tip inspections at all.

The nationalisation of coalmines had been a major plank in the reform programme of the Labour Party elected to office in 1945 and the miners had massive public sympathy. The private coal owners had been perceived as socially irresponsible and money grasping. When the coalmines were nationalised in 1947 the public had been told that in future the mines were to be governed by the NCB “on behalf of the people.”

That was never to be the case. While conditions for the miners improved the mines continued to be run in the interest of profit making. Costs were to be kept to a minimum in the interests of the overall well being of British capitalism. For example while it was technically feasible to put the waste material back underground it was “not economically practicable” the NCB told the Tribunal.

Such a practice would in any case impede “the type of mining necessary to make the industry economically viable.”

So while we remember this tragic loss lets not forget that the children and others killed were the victims of a system that puts money before human life.

GT