Aberfan Disaster On October 21st 1966, a coal tip slid down a mountaiside into the mining village of Aberfan, South Wales. It engulfed a farm, twenty houses and a school. 144 people died, 116 of whom were children, the greater part of the next generation. Aberfan became the village without children. Underneath the firemen are the houses and school. Image area-369mm x 235mm N.F.S.