Aberfan disaster photographer wishes he had never taken famous image

This story contains upsetting details that some may find distressing It's one of the most famous photographs capturing the aftermath of the Aberfan disaster, but its success has come to haunt the man who took it. Mel Parry was an 18-year-old apprentice photographer with the Merthyr Express newspaper when he found himself in the south Wales village on his way to work. He began documenting one of the darkest days in Welsh history when a colliery spoil tip collapsed, slid down a mountain and engulfed the village's primary school and surrounding houses, killing 116 children and 28 adults and leaving a lasting scar in Wales. In the photo, PC Victor Jones can be seen carrying eight-year-old Susan Maybank to safety. The woman to the right is Susan's aunt. Parry snapped the image but "wished he'd never taken it", later abandoning his career as a photographer. In December 1966, the picture won the British News Photographer of the Year award, but Parry said he put the success of the image down to chance. He had been on a bus travelling through Aberfan when someone shouted that the school had fallen down. "I happened to be the person on the spot, unfortunately." With only one roll of film in