Page 1 of 2

As Brian Stevens retires from the Bath Chronicle, he talks to the paper’s Matt Cardy about his memories of photographing the terrible scenes at the Aberfan disaster in Wales

For Brian, the sight of the pictures of the aftermath of the World Trade Centre disaster, could not help but fill him with a sense of deja-vu.

Brian had seen scenes reminiscent of this before.

In 1966, he was sent to the rescue operation at Aberfan.

The collapse of a slag heap in the small South Wales mining town killed hundreds. Many of the dead were children who were crushed when the school they were attending was engulfed in coal waste.

Even now, thirty-five years later, Brian finds it hard to talk about the experience without being overcome by grief.

“When I saw the pictures coming out of New York I knew what those people were going through.

“Although the death toll is higher in New York, in some ways, because of the large number of children, Aberfan was more tragic.

“Adults look after themselves. They are there generally because they want to be there. Children on the other hand, are sent.

“One of the most tragic things I saw was the mother who had sent her little boy to school even though he said he was ill.

“Her last memory of him was with him walking down the street, his eyes full of tears.”

Brian was sent to Aberfan by the then editor of The Chronicle because he felt he could not rely on the Press Association for pictures.

“At the time, I didn’t even know where it was. We looked it up on the map and I raced off to South Wales.”

Next page…