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Upon its collapse, 111 feet of extremely fine coal waste went crashing directly into Pantglas.
At the time, oil was quickly outpacing coal as an energy source that was both cheap and plentiful.
Approximately one mine was closing every nine days, and with them, peoples livelihoods.
Despite all this knowledge, it was not drained.
In 1965, a senior Coal Board official claimed that if tipping ended, coal mining would end.
This deliberate avoidance of the industrys inevitable decline cost 144 people their lives.
Did Elizabeth II wait eight long days to visit Aberfan, like she does inThe Crown?
Tony Snowdon drove down in the middle of the night, arriving at 2 a.m.
Prince Philip came down the next day.
(Their opening offer was 50, but they wound uppaying 500to each family.)
Merthyr Vale itself stayed open a further 23 years until finally closing in 1989.
