English: Llywydd, at 9.15 a.m. on 21 October 1966, Wales changed forever. When the Merthyr Vale No. 7 tip slid through the mist of the morning in a 40-foot wave and engulfed Pantglas junior school and the surrounding buildings, it had a profound effect on the community, of course, but also on the wider world. My mother was a young schoolteacher, pregnant with me, when she first heard the news from Aberfan. It was break time in the junior school where she was teaching. The head came in and said, 'A school in Merthyr has collapsed. We don't know if anyone's hurt.' And that's all they knew at that time. And then the full story came out during the course of the day. It affected her. Over the years, I heard her talk of Aberfan. I heard her talk of teachers who had been found buried with their arms around children trying to protect them against the deluge, and when my own children were young, we went to Big Pit mining museum, and there on display are newspaper front pages describing the disaster, and she was deeply affected then. For although she wasn't from Aberfan, she was from a small mining village and she knew what the cost would be to the community. Men knew the risks of working underground. They knew the risks of a fall. They feared being engulfed by blackdamp. They knew the explosive power of firedamp. They knew about the risk of injury underground. The lamp rooms were full of men who bore testament to that. Many of us in our families saw the effect of the dust on the lungs of those who worked underground - pneumoconiosis and emphysema taking the lives of those as they aged prematurely and were taken so young. They knew the price of coal was high, but they didn't realise that the price would be so extortionate, because who would have thought that coal could take the lives of children so suddenly, and above the ground? We can't share the experience of the community of Aberfan and those who lost so much. We can't share their grief because their grief is different. Their grief has been, and still is, played out in the full glare of the public spotlight. And this week will be difficult. Friday will be hugely difficult for so many families. But I hope I speak for all Members in this Chamber when I say that today we stand in solidarity with the people of Aberfan. 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 community of Aberfan.
Welsh: Lywydd, am 9.15 y bore ar 21 Hydref 1966 newidiodd Cymru am byth. Pan lithrodd tomen Rhif 7 Ynysowen drwy niwl y bore mewn ton 40 troedfedd a lyncodd ysgol gynradd Pantglas a'r adeiladau cyfagos, fe gafodd effaith ddofn ar y gymuned, wrth gwrs, ond hefyd ar y byd ehangach. Roedd fy mam yn athrawes ysgol ifanc, yn feichiog gyda mi, pan glywodd am y newyddion o Aberfan. Roedd yn amser egwyl yn yr ysgol gynradd lle roedd hi'n dysgu. Daeth y pennaeth i mewn a dweud, 'Mae yna ysgol ym Merthyr wedi dymchwel. Nid ydym yn gwybod a oes unrhyw un wedi brifo.' A dyna'r cyfan a wyddent ar y pryd. Ac yna daeth y stori lawn allan yn ystod y dydd. Fe effeithiodd arni. Dros y blynyddoedd, clywais hi'n siarad am Aberfan. Clywais hi'n sôn am athrawon a ganfuwyd wedi'u claddu gyda'u breichiau o gwmpas y plant i geisio'u hamddiffyn rhag y dilyw, a phan oedd fy mhlant fy hun yn ifanc, fe aethom i amgueddfa lofaol Big Pit, ac yno'n cael eu harddangos mae tudalennau blaen papurau newydd yn disgrifio'r trychineb, ac fe effeithiwyd arni'n ddwfn bryd hynny. Oherwydd, er nad oedd hi o Aberfan, roedd hi'n dod o bentref bach glofaol ac roedd hi'n gwybod beth fyddai'r gost i'r gymuned. Roedd dynion yn gwybod am y peryglon o weithio dan ddaear. Roeddent yn gwybod am y peryglon o gwymp. Roeddent yn ofni cael eu llyncu gan dagnwy. Roeddent yn gwybod am rym ffrwydrol llosgnwy. Roeddent yn gwybod am y risg o gael anaf o dan y ddaear. Roedd y lamprwms yn llawn o ddynion a dystiai i hynny. Gwelodd llawer ohonom yn ein teuluoedd effaith llwch ar ysgyfaint y rhai a weithiai o dan y ddaear - a niwmoconiosis ac emffysema yn dwyn bywydau'r rheini wrth iddynt heneiddio cyn pryd a chael eu cymryd mor ifanc. Roeddent yn gwybod bod pris glo yn uchel, ond nid oeddent yn sylweddoli y byddai'r pris mor ormodol, oherwydd pwy fyddai wedi meddwl y gallai glo gymryd bywydau plant mor sydyn, a hynny uwchben y ddaear? Ni allwn rannu profiad cymuned Aberfan a'r rhai a gollodd cymaint. Ni allwn rannu eu galar am fod eu galar yn wahanol. Mae eu galar wedi bod, ac yn dal i fod, yn digwydd o dan y chwyddwydr cyhoeddus. A bydd yr wythnos hon yn anodd. Bydd dydd Gwener yn hynod o anodd i gynifer o deuluoedd. Ond rwy'n gobeithio fy mod yn siarad ar ran pob Aelod yn y Siambr hon pan ddywedaf heddiw ein bod yn sefyll yn unedig â phobl Aberfan. Rydym yn cynnig cefnogaeth iddynt a rhywfaint o gysur gobeithio wrth iddynt ymdopi ag atgofion y diwrnod hwnnw pan ddaeth tywyllwch gaeaf yn gynnar i gymuned Aberfan.