It's 40 years on Saturday since the Aberfan disaster and there is a lot about it in the Welsh media this week. I don't want to be morbid but this is one event that should not be forgotten.

For anyone who does not know what happened was this:

Without warning, a coal-tip high on the hill above Aberfan village, which had become destabilised by a stream beneath it, turned to slurry and slid rapidly down the slope to smash into several houses and the junior school, destroying htem completely. The slurry then dried out, becoming hard. 144 people were killed, 116 of them children. A small number were rescued from the ruins of their classrooms but the disaster effectively wiped out a whole generation in the village.

The National Coal Board had always known about the stream but were unwilling to accept responsibility.

Money poured in to the disaster fund from all around the world but the then government took £150,000 of that to pay for the removal of the remaining coal tips above the village. This sum was finally returned in 1997 - without interest or adjustment for inflation.

I was 5 at the time and at school a few miles away in the next valley. I can still vividly remember the reports on TV and no disaster or atrocity since has affected me more than this one. This week's TV programs have had me completely choked up.

None of the survivors excaped unscathed but it's been good to see some of them on TV this week and to see the positive things they have achieved in their lives. One is currently mayor of Merthyr Tydfil for instance.

Anyway, this is a good article for anyone who is interested.

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/features/tm_met...50082-name_page.html

I watched this programme about an American photographer, Chuck Rapaport. He worked for a magazine which covered the news at the time. He had revisited Aberfan after 40 years, where he was reunited with the survivors. The programme was called Children Of The Valley. It was moving, but sensitively done.

I agree. This should never be forgotten, a tragedy that should never have happened.

To those countless helpless children and teachers, may you all rest in peace.

i come from a mining village and have two young daughters, i counld'nt express how i'd feel if it were those involved in such tragedy.

Thank you for the info.

Mike