SURVIVORS of the Aberfan disaster have paid tribute to the victims of the disaster exactly 50 years to the minute after the Welsh village’s junior school was engulfed by thousands of tonnes of coal waste.
An entire generation was almost wiped out at Pantglas school when 150,000 tonnes of liquefied slurry slid down the hillside at 9.15am on October 21, 1966.
About 1,000 people attended a memorial service at Aberfan Cemetery at the precise time the coal struck. They included the country’s First Minister, Carwyn Jones, and Jeff Edwards, the last person to be pulled out of the wreckage alive.
The Prince of Wales privately laid a wreath bearing the words “Er bythol gof a chyda’r cydymdeiumlad dwysaf”, meaning “In continuing memory and deepest sympathy”.
He planted a sweetgum tree in the local memorial garden and spoke to survivors at a reception before giving a speech, including a message from the Queen who praised the community’s “indomitable spirit”
She recalled how, during a visit with Prince Phillip, she was given a posy by a young girl, which bore the heart-breaking inscription, “From the remaining children of Aberfan”.
The Queen added: “Since then, we have returned on several occasions and have always been deeply impressed by the remarkable fortitude, dignity and indomitable spirit that characterises the people of this village and the surrounding valleys.”
The disaster unfolded, following days of heavy rain, when excavated mining debris from the Merthyr Vale Colliery was dislodged and came thundering down the hillside.
The waste material had been piled high on the side of Mynydd Merthyr – above Aberfan – for years, even though there were numerous underground springs below.
Children were just getting ready for lessons when 1.5 million cubic feet of liquefied slurry crashed into the school and a number of nearby houses.
Charles said “God bless you” to Marilyn Morris, 64, was in the last class of the senior school at the time. She said: “There’s things I can remember now that I haven’t thought about until today, the 50th anniversary,” she said.“I have three daughters and I have never spoken to them about it. I knew nearly all the children here, we knew everybody in Aberfan.“There were six children from my street that died. We just blanked it from our minds, nobody spoke about it. It was such a shock that we couldn’t bring ourselves to talk about it but now we are and we are feeling much better for it.”
Prince Charles told residents: “Aberfan showed the world the darkest sorrow, but also the most shining selflessness: a spirit that endured not just for the time of crisis, but for a lifetime.”
“No-one should have to bear the losses you suffered. But no-one could have borne those losses with greater strength or greater courage.”
Diane Fudge, 58, whose twin sister Daphne died in the tragedy said: “Losing my twin sister meant that I am always reminded about what happened that day.”
A choir made up of local schoolchildren from Ysgol Rhyd y Grug and Ynysowen Community Primary School and Ynysowen Male Choir performed a rendition of the John Rutter song Look At The World. The song featured the lyric “so many miracles along our way” – something not lost on the indomitable spirit of the survivors and the community of Aberfan.
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