The Aberfan disaster changed Wales forever, says Carwyn Jones

Assembly members held a minute's silence to mark the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster on Wednesday afternoon

The Aberfan disaster changed Wales forever, First Minister Carwyn Jones told the Senedd on Wednesday.

On 21 October 1966 116 children and 28 adults in the village were killed after a waste tip collapsed.

AMs held a minute's silence in the chamber, marking the 50th anniversary with moving tributes.

Neil Hamilton, UKIP group leader, struggled to hold back tears as he spoke about his father's involvement in the rescue effort.

Mr Jones said: "In 9.15am on 21st October 1966 Wales changed forever".

He told AMs people knew the danger of mining "but they didn't realise that the price would be so extortionate".

"Who would have thought that coal could take the lives of children, so suddenly and above the ground," he said.

"Today we stand in solidarity with the people of Aberfan," he said.

"We offer them support and I hope some comfort as they deal with the memories of that day, when winter darkness came early to the people of Aberfan."

Price of coal 'too great'

Dawn Bowden, Labour AM for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney which covers Aberfan, said: "What happened that day shows us the price of coal in a place, whose only reason for existence was to dig for it, was too great a price for any community to pay.

"But coal had also created these mining communities whose values of solidarity, comradeship and community spirit were rarely seen elsewhere."

She said that spirit "has been such a credit to the people of Aberfan, enabling them to rebuild their lives and their community and to look forward with courage, dignity and hope".

Neil Hamilton, UKIP group leader, broke down in the chamber as he spoke about his father Ron, a National Coal Board chief engineer in West Wales, and how he cut short a family holiday to rush "to help in the rescue operation".

He said: "Danger was endemic in a deep mine, but this disaster on the surface seemed even more a sacrifice of innocents."

Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru, said: "To those closest to the event, you must know that you have our support, you have our sympathy, you have our solidarity, and you have our respect.

"It is incumbent upon all of us and the generations that followed to ensure that we continue to remember what happened that day in Aberfan 50 years ago".

'Formidable courage'

Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative leader, said he was "awed by the formidable courage and community spirit by which the people of Aberfan have faced the future in the aftermath of such heartbreak and devastation".

"Despite the horrors endured, the community did not succumb to the darkness, instead choosing to tirelessly dig for light," he said.

Presiding officer Elin Jones said: "The resilience of the community of Aberfan in the face of adversity is testament to the triumph of hope even in the face of tragedy".

Earlier Prime Minister Theresa May led Commons tributes to the disaster.

During Prime Minister's Question Time in the House of Commons she said: "It's right to pause and reflect and recognise the solidarity and resilience of the people of Aberfan to overcome this tragedy".

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he wanted to join the prime minister in commemorating the disaster.

'Unimaginable loss'

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns told MPs that the disaster was "an event that shocked not just Wales, but the whole of the country and the wider world".

"I'm sure colleagues across the house would pay tribute to the bravery and strong community ties which pulled the people of Aberfan through the immediate aftermath and provided so much support in the months and years which followed," he said.

Labour's Jo Stevens, making her debut as shadow Welsh secretary, told the Commons that she wanted to "pay tribute to the spirit and resilience of the people of Aberfan".

The shadow Wales Office minister Gerald Jones - the MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney - said the disaster had resulted in "an unimaginable loss for the families and the whole community".

Plaid Cymru's Jonathan Edwards and Mark Williams, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said they both wanted to be associated with the tributes.