The Disaster That Buried a Welsh School | Aberfan 1966, 60 Years Later

The Aberfan disaster happened on 21 October 1966, when a coal tip collapsed onto the Welsh village of Aberfan and buried Pantglas Junior School. 144 people were killed, 116 of them children. This Aberfan 1966 documentary covers the warnings that were ignored, what the Tribunal found, and the coal tips still above Wales sixty years on. Today, 21 October 2026, is the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster. We remember everyone who was lost. CHAPTERS 0:00 The last day before half-term 1:21 Aberfan and the tips above it 5:51 The morning of 21 October 1966 7:34 The slide hits Pantglas School 8:24 Impact: the rescue and the toll 10:40 The Tribunal: who was to blame 14:09 The tips that remained 15:23 The Tips Act of 1969 16:48 Tylorstown, Cwmtillery and the 2025 Wales Act 18:21 Sixty years on No open-licence film of the Aberfan rescue exists. Footage marked REPRESENTATIVE FOOTAGE is from other places and events, not Aberfan. MUSIC "Lightless Dawn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... "Ossuary 6 - Air" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... "Long Note Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... "Dark Times" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... "Heartbreaking" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... "Despair and Triumph" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... IMAGES AND FILM (via Wikimedia Commons unless stated) CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Dr Mary Gillham Archive Project; Alex Liivet; Nick. CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... UK Parliament; Welsh Government / Llywodraeth Cymru. CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Markku Lepola / JOKA Press Photo Archive, Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto); Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament. CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... John Thorn; nantcoly; Alan Hughes; Gareth James; Tudor Williams; Mike Kohnstamm; Marathon; Tom Jolliffe; Roger W; Alan Murray-Rust; David Smith; Graham Horn; Stephen McKay; Mel hartshorn; DS Pugh; Ian S. CC BY-SA 3.0 NL (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Polygoon-Profilti (producer) / Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid (custodian). CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Geoff Charles / National Library of Wales; Llywelyn2000; Darren Wyn Rees at Aberdare Blog; Cwtchman; Koolkat16; The wub. Changes made: colour reduced and graded, converted to black and white and graded, cropped to 16:9, detail crop, film grain and vignette added, original soundtrack not used, picture only, slow pull-out, slow push-in, slowed to 70%, 75%, 82% or 95%, some shown whole over a darkened, blurred copy of themselves. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/do... Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 https://www.parliament.uk/site-inform... #Aberfan #AberfanDisaster #Aberfan1966 #WelshHistory #DisasterDocumentary