A PORTHMADOG minister, who was prominent in the campaign to secure justice for the families affected by the Aberfan disaster, has featured in a revealing television documentary.

In the documentary Aberfan: Yr Ymchwiliad, presenter and journalist Huw Edwards looks at the battle for justice for the families of the 144 people who lost their lives.

A total of 116 children and 28 adults were killed in the disaster, when waste from a coal tip fell on Pantglas primary school on the morning of 21 October 1966.

This programme was broadcast as part of S4C’s commemoration of the disaster, marking 50 years since the tragedy.

In the programme, Huw looks at the campaign to clear the three coal tips which overlooked the village.

The authorities had offered no recommendations for clearing the coal tips, but Rev Erastus Jones, who later settled in the Porthmadog area, was at the forefront of the campaign for them to be cleared.

Mr Edwards said: “The Edmund Davies Report about the disaster didn’t deal with the main issue worrying local residents: the presence of the coal tips. A group of Christian ministers came together to put together a plan to get rid of the tips. They met in the home of Erastus Jones, Ty Toronto, in Aberfan.

The original Toronto had been a caravan donated by Canadian well-wishers to support the Aberfan residents. Erastus Jones’ home in the village became a centre-point of the campaign to get rid of the tips.”

Read the full story in this week’s north editions of the Cambrian News, in shops now, or available by clicking the digital editions link