On this day in 1966, the Welsh village of Aberfan suffered a terrible tragedy. One of the waste tips from the coal mine on the hill above the town collapsed, sending tons of debris down onto the village, burying Pantglas Junior School under 40 feet of sludge. The final death toll from the school and the village as a whole was 144, including 116 children and 5 teachers. The disaster highlighted the dangers of the coal mining industry. In remembrance, today we highlight a fiction book about a young embalmer whose first job is in the aftermath of the disaster, and a non-fiction book written by one of the survivors of that terrible day.
