Daily Mail - Primary School in Wales is closed amid fears it could become 'another Aberfan' after survey revealed risk of huge landslide from the hills above

A village school has been closed instantly and may never reopen amid fears it will become ‘another Aberfan disaster’ – which saw 144 people die in a landslide.

Education chiefs ordered the immediate closure of the 158-pupil school after a survey revealed a risk of a massive landslide from the mountains above the classrooms.

The endangered Godre’r Graig Primary School at Ystalyfera, near Swansea, South Wales, is just 25 miles from the village of Aberfan where disaster struck in 1966 when 116 children were buried under a coal tip.

Council leader Rob Jones told how his ‘first thoughts’ were about the tragedy at Aberfan – and closed the school gates immediately just one week before the summer holidays.

He said: ‘Anyone will draw comparisons to schools that have been involved in this type of disaster previously and the potential of a disaster taking place here, and that was my first thought.

‘All the actions we have taken in this area are in order to protect and save life and when we are talking about children in a school, even low risk to me is too high a risk.’

It was such a swift closure that the school’s sports day, due to be held today, was scrapped.