A piece of Jerusalem wall falls
A rock of 100 kilos fell from several meters high, forcing the city to close a part of the place, the most sacred to Judaism. The heavy stone fell on the Esplanade in a mixed zone next to the Wall, where men and women can pray without separation. It almost crushes a person.
Mayor Nir Barkat said in a statement that the 100-kilogram stone fell near a faithful woman without touching it, explaining the reason for closing part of the Temple Mount, adjacent to this sacred place for Jews. The president affirmed that the Antiquities Authority will be in charge of checking that there is no danger before the reopening is authorized.
In the place, there were tens of thousands of people who had come to the place on Sunday, on the occasion of the celebrations that mark the destruction of the two Temples of Jerusalem according to Jewish tradition. For now, the city of Jerusalem closed on Monday a part of the great monument.
A team of experts - archaeologists, engineers and conservationists - from the Israel Antiquities Authority (AAI) was sent to the site to examine the affected area of the Herodian structure of more than two thousand years old, the most sacred site where Jews they are going to pray.
The AAI noted that the stone could have been detached for several reasons, such as the growth of vegetation in the cracks of the old wall, erosion caused by moisture or an engineering failure as yet unknown. How scary could the accident be?
A recording has caused a stir, as it shows the moment when the stone falls off and falls onto an elevated wooden platform used for prayer. The rabbi in charge of the complex, Shmuel Rabinovich, called it the most unusual event in decades. He said that moisture or plant growth may have moved the stone.
The Wailing Wall is the only vestige of a wall of the second Jewish Temple, destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 of our era. Above is the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism and the Temple Mount, the third holy place of Islam.
