Huge stone falls from Jerusalem’s Western Wall

A large stone has fallen from Jerusalem’s Western Wall, narrowly avoiding a woman who was praying at the holy site.

The Jerusalem Post says the incident happened early Monday local time, with prayer platforms in the area likely to be closed for some time while engineers assess the ancient structure.

CCTV footage captured the incident, with the 79-year-old woman Daniella Goldberg telling reporters she did not “feel or hear or feel anything” until the stone – thought to weigh about 100 kilograms – landed at her feet.

“There was a big hole in the floor as you can see, in the deck, the boards of the stairs were even broken,” she said. “I didn’t understand where it fell from. I looked high up, it’s all intact up there.”

She told Israeli TV that she had “tried not to let the incident distract me from my prayers” and refused to be drawn on whether divine providence had spared her. “May we all be blessed,” she said.

Read the report in The New Daily.