Survivors of the Aberfan disaster have shared harrowing memories of the day a coal tip collapsed onto their primary school, as the 60th anniversary is marked. The disaster on October 21, 1966, killed 144 people, including 116 children who never came home from Pantglas Junior School.
Jeff Edwards, the last child rescued alive, recalled the moment class 2A was having its last day before half-term. He told the Mirror: "There was a sort of rumbling noise. And that rumbling noise got louder and louder. The ground started to shake and the teacher said to us: 'Don’t worry, it’s only thunder'. The next thing I remember was waking up with all this material over me."
He described being trapped with a dead girl on his shoulder, saying: "My right leg was under a radiator with hot water coming out on it. On my left shoulder was a dead girl and I couldn’t get away from her because I was stuck, the desk was against my stomach."
Survivors describe the terrifying moments
Jeff said the only reason he survived was a pocket of air that allowed him to breathe, adding that most children who died either suffered physical trauma or asphyxiation. He sustained injuries to his head and stomach but said the psychological pain hurt most, causing constant nightmares and a fear of thunder.
Gerald Kirwan, another former pupil in the same class, described hearing a noise like a jet aeroplane and seeing a black mass coming through the windows. He was buried up to his chest, with a girl on top of him and his little friend's head on his shoulder. He said: "I was speaking to him: 'Are you okay? Are you okay?' There was blood running down from his nose and from the corner of his mouth, a frothy blood... he didn’t talk." That boy died, Gerald said.
Community resilience and remembrance
The now-defunct National Coal Board was found responsible for the tragedy. A tribunal concluded: "The Aberfan Disaster is a terrifying tale of bungling ineptitude by many men charged with tasks for which they were totally unfitted, of failure to heed clear warnings, and of total lack of direction from above."
Gaynor Madgwick, who spent 12 weeks in hospital, was the girl on top of Gerald. She survived but her brother and sister both died. The 68-year-old retired charity worker, who lives in Merthyr Tydfil, wrote a book about Aberfan and said: "All my life I’ve told my story."
David Davies, another pupil, was buried and rendered unconscious. He was laid with the deceased bodies until someone saw his foot move, and he was taken to hospital. The 68-year-old, who went on to study at Cambridge and work as a lawyer, lives in the village today and chairs the Aberfan Memorial Charity. He said: "Obviously it was an awful thing but I think it’s far more than that. It’s really about the resilience, the fortitude and the community coming together as it did in the years after 1966."
Jeff, who was made an OBE for his services to fellow survivors and to charity, said it is vital to continue telling the story. He said: "It’s important that we keep the memory alive because of the tragedy that happened, the loss that it made. That sacrifice that was made should not be in vain – it should be there to help others." The King will visit Aberfan alongside the Queen and Prince William on Wednesday to mark the 60th anniversary.
