Statement on Gleision Announcement

Following today’s announcement by South Wales Police that the Directors and the Manager of the Gleision Mine in the Swansea Valley are facing criminal charges for corporate manslaughter and other offences, Neath MP and former Secretary of State for Wales Peter Hain said:

“After such a devastating tragedy, the families and our communities have naturally been anxious to discover why and how the four local miners were killed. This prosecution will enable the truth to be revealed for the first time. The mystery to me was how on earth the men were working a coal seam heading straight for old underground mine workings towards an area which they must surely have seen marked on their plan “underground water”. When I was shown the plan outside the mine during the rescue and recovery operation I was aghast. This unanswered question, amongst many others about the tragedy, still haunts the families and many of us who have worked to support them.”