
New laws emerged from the rubble
EXTREME negligence was blamed for the Aberfan disaster of 1966, which saw 166 children and 28 adults lose their lives after a colliery spoil tip collapsed in the tiny Welsh village. The coal tip reportedly took just five minutes to slide down the mountain and engulf a school, several houses and a farm in its path. It was an incident that devastated the coal mining village near Merthry Tydfil in South Wales and changed the face of mining regulations – prompting new legislation to resolve the absence of laws and regulations for mine and quarry waste tips and spoil heaps. The incident took place early on 21 October, shortly after the school day had commenced. The mudslide, consisting of excavated…