Versailles Wedding Hall Disaster
The Versailles wedding hall (Hebrew: אולמי ורסאי), located in Talpiot, Jerusalem, is the site of the worst civil disaster in Israel's history. At 22:43 on May 24, 2001, during the wedding of Keren and Asaf Dror, a large portion of the third floor of the four-story building collapsed. As a result, 23 people fell to their deaths through two stories, including the groom's 80-year-old grandfather and his three-year-old second cousin, the youngest victim. Another 380 were injured, including the bride who suffered serious pelvic injuries that required surgery. Asaf, who escaped serious injury, carried her in his arms from the rubble.
The disaster shocked the Israeli public not only because it was one of the worst building disasters in the country's history, but because the event was documented on a camcorder and broadcast on local and international television.
Read more about Versailles Wedding Hall Disaster: Rescue Efforts, Investigation, Versailles Law
Famous quotes containing the words wedding, hall and/or disaster:
“The Ancient Mariner seizes the guest at the wedding feast and will not let go until he has told all his story: the prototype of the bore.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Generation on generation, your neck rubbed the windowsill
of the stall, smoothing the wood as the sea smooths glass.”
—Donald Hall (b. 1928)
“When wine is spilled with accident, death and disaster hasten.”
—Joseph O’Donnell. Clifford Sanforth. Ah Ling, Murder by Television, after he accidentally spills wine on Mrs. Houghland (1935)