Remember the people of Aberfan, says First Minister.

The First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, is calling upon the people of Wales to pause and remember the Aberfan disaster with a minute’s silence at 9.15am on 21 October 2016, exactly 50 years after the tragedy took place.

The 1966 disaster claimed the lives of 144 people, 116 of them primary school children, when a spoil tip containing waste material from coal mining slid down from its position on the hillside above the village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil.

Carwyn Jones said:

“I’m calling on the people of Wales to join together in a minute’s silence at 9.15am on Friday 21 October.

“The disaster in Aberfan, 50 years ago, was one of the darkest days in modern Welsh history and we remember the adults and school children who lost their lives. We also think about the survivors, those who lost loved-ones and the people who answered the call to search and care for survivors, and recover those who had perished.

“Individuals, families and the community have been profoundly affected by the disaster. Half a century after, it is fitting that the country as a whole comes together, with respect and compassion, to remember.”