Prime Minister Andy Burnham has met a survivor of the Aberfan disaster, as well as others with connections to the tragedy, days ahead of the 60th anniversary.
Burnham visited the Aberfan memorial garden on Monday morning alongside Jeff Edwards, one of the last children to be brought out alive from the wreckage, and Welsh Secretary Stephen Kinnock.
“It’s been 60 years since one of the most horrifying tragedies this country has ever seen. All of those children lost,” Burnham said.
On 21 October 1966, 116 children and 28 adults were killed when a colliery spoil tip collapsed, catastrophically engulfing a primary school and surrounding houses.
The prime minister said the tragedy was something his mum and dad told him about when he was growing up, adding that he was there to “recognise the community” and what they had been through.
“The strength of the community today is something to see and something to feel,” he said.
“To say also to them, I don’t think Aberfan was treated properly by the authorities and that also needs to be recognised.
“Because at a moment like this, I think all of those things need to be said and it’s right that the prime minister is here to say that to them.”
Pupils from Caegarw Primary School in nearby Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, were on a visit to the memorial garden, built on the site of the destroyed Pantglas School, on Monday morning, unaware that the prime minister would also be there.
Burnham spent about 15 minutes in the memorial garden, before speaking to people who had gathered outside. He also visited a community centre.
He said coal tip safety, particularly in former mining communities in south Wales, was of “critical importance”.
“It’s of critical importance that we make sure that all of the remaining tips around Wales are safe indeed across the country,” he said, adding he represented a former mining community in Makerfield near Manchester.
He said his government was providing around £140m to the Welsh government, who were “adding some extra funding themselves”.
“There’s an organisation that is being set up to manage all of these ongoing risks,” he said.
