The Tragedy At Aberfan 50 Years Ago

On a beautiful October morning 50 years ago lives would be lost and others were to be altered forever because businessmen refused to listen to the people who actually knew what they were doing.

On 21 October 1966 coal waste from a mine destroyed the lives of 116 children and 28 adults. It was all over in the blink of an eye but the impact has lasted all this time and it will not end anytime soon.

As if all this horror wasn’t already enough for those left to grieve the National Coal Board then denied all responsibility for the negligence shown by them. An inquiry eventually branded them for making misleading statements but nobody was ever brought to court to explain their role in what happened.

Over £1.5 million was raised by charity donations from all over the world to help towards rebuilding the community in Aberfan. Incredible, and dishonestly, the Government skimmed £150,000 off the top of this {a small fortune back in 1966} in their much publicised move to make other similar tips safe. Many referred to it as being just about as uncomfortably close as you can get to robbing the dead.

You would think something like this could never happen again. Well, just have a think – locals ignored so as fracking can go ahead, delays in setting up an inquiry into Orgreave, the farcical goings on at the Child Abuse Inquiry and, sadly, how can we ever forget what happened around Hillsborough? To rub salt into the wounds, the high and mighty are allowed to carry on, keep their jobs and to look forward to a very healthy pension.

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