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Minute's silence to remember Aberfan Disaster in Britain

Xinhua, October 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Government buildings across Britain will observe a one minute of silence on Friday to pay respects to those affected by the Aberfan Disaster.

The tragedy happened in South Wales in the morning of October 21, 1966, when a coal mine spoil tip collapsed and slid down a mountainside into the village of Aberfan.

It engulfed the Pantglas Junior School and around 20 houses in the village of Aberfan. In a total of 144 people killed, 116 of them were children aged 7 to 11 in the village school. Almost half of the school's young students perished in the tragedy, along with five teachers.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said Thursday that the silence will be marked at all government buildings in Britain, with other organizations also expected to observe the rememberance.

British Prime Minister Theresa May backed the call from Welsh MP's for the 50th anniversary of the disaster to be marked with a minute's silence across the whole Britain on Friday.

Carwyn Jones, first minister of Wales, has called on the people of Wales to pause and remember those killed when a waste tip from Merthyr Vale colliery slid down the mountain onto the village below.

"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," said the official.

"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," Jones said.

Debris covered the village in minutes, with classrooms at Pantglas Junior School inundated, leading to the deaths of young children and their teachers who died from impact or suffocation.

The children were in their classrooms, just a few hours before they were due to leave for a school holiday.

The minute's silence coincides with the exact moment 50 years ago when 150,000 cubic meters of water-saturated debris broke away and flowed downhill at high speed, engulfing the village school. Endit