Watch special ITV News coverage on the day the UK remembered one of the worst disasters in its history.
116 children and 28 adults were killed when 150,000 tonnes of coal waste slid down the hillside before engulfing Pantglas Junior School on October 21 1966.
Today, the King, Queen and Prince of Wales joined politicians, survivors and bereaved families in the village to remember those lost in the tragedy.
The disaster unfolded, following days of heavy rain, when excavated mining debris from the Merthyr Vale Colliery was dislodged and came thundering down the hillside.
The waste material had been piled high on the side of Mynydd Merthyr – above Aberfan – for years, even though there were numerous underground springs below.
Children in Pantglas Junior School were just getting ready for lessons when 1.5 million cubic feet of liquefied slurry crashed into the school and a number of nearby houses.
About half the children from the junior school died in the tragedy, which happened on the last day before half term.
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