Previously unseen Aberfan disaster photographs released ahead of 60th anniversary

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service has released previously unseen photographs and records of the 1966 Aberfan disaster ahead of its 60th anniversary. The images show rescuers and residents searching through debris after a coal waste tip collapsed into Pantglas Junior School and nearby homes, killing 144 people.

The collapse sent about 150,000 tonnes of slurry into the village near Merthyr Tydfil after weeks of heavy rain. A tribunal blamed the National Coal Board’s failure to manage waste safely, but no one was prosecuted. Queen Elizabeth II visited eight days later; the article says the delay was later described as her greatest regret, while a survivor said an earlier royal visit could have disrupted rescue work.