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Escaping a Volcano's Deadly Pyroclastic Flow | Pompeii: The New Dig
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- Published on Mar 6, 2026
- Official website: to.pbs.org/3ys...
Volcanologist Professor Chris Jackson reveals the power of the deadly pyroclastic flow that had swept through Pompeii, killing everything in its path. He identifies the tell-tale signs of the killer pyroclastic flow on a wall of pumice and ash. A group known as "The Fugitives" attempted to escape the eruption of Vesuvius, but were unsuccessful.
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#pompeii #archaeology #volcano
Pompeii: The New Dig
The series follows the biggest archaeological excavation in Pompeii for a generation. Exciting discoveries and fresco-inspired animations tell the story of life in Pompeii AD 79. It also imagines the horrors faced by resident as Vesuvius erupted. Stream now: to.pbs.org/3ys...
The excavation aims to unearth the buildings, their purpose, who lived there, and what happened to them during the eruption. Alongside the present tense story of the dig, the series investigates the timeline of the eruption. From the violent earthquakes that shook the city in the years before the eruption to the day of the disaster, Vesuvius first slowly buries Pompeii and then delivers the killer blows in the form of pyroclastic flows.
And, for the first time, pioneering new research finds hard evidence that some Pompeiians escaped the city and survived the eruption. From evidence hidden in Pompeii’s storeroom of prominent Pompeiians, the investigation discovers inscriptions that date from after the eruption and bear the same name in the area surrounding the destroyed city. 
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This is so disturbing. These were real people forever caught frozen in their death throes.
Imagine if their souls are trapped in those stones.
Nah, they're quite dead but a resurrection is possible for all who has died.
Yes! frozen in time screaming, with open mouths, arms outstretched in a defensive posture. Some mothers lay over infants to protect them as the inexorable 1500-degree tsunami of super-heated ash and pumice washed over them in an overwhelming tide.
🙄
Wow. I have watched so many media pieces on Pompeii over the years, and I think that this is the first one that made me cry. Thank you for bringing the human element of that tragedy to the forefront. I also appreciate the documentaries that focus on the science, the art, the architecture, and the culture/history. But it's wonderful when we are reminded that all these people were humans like ourselves.
Same here. We Pompeians remember. Our souls remember. 😮😮😮
The bones of the pregnant woman with her arms close to her chest and belly with the bones of the unborn baby visable is the one that makes me cry. There are at least three pregnant women that were found. One cast and two skeletons.
@erikatamayo1925 can you please timestamp this one I can't really find it???
@harshitabhardwaj2916it doesn’t show it in this video on Pompeii. I have watched many videos about it and the guy who discovered it and his way of capturing it in casting the cavities their bodies were once in. You can look up pregnant women who died in Pompeii on google and look at images to find it quickly
It's so fascinating how much we can discover just by analyzing rock formations helping us piece together an event that otherwise couldn't be properly recorded at the time.
Seeing these forms of these poor people made me cry. How can you not imagine how scared they were trying so hard to escape. ❤
The crazy part is I got to experience something like this. We lived near Mt St Helen's. The day it blew we rounded up the animals, shut the doors and huddled together in the living room. Nobody knew what came next. People 5miles from us we're buried from rock or mud. We survived, but could have well been like the Pompeiis.
i’ve visited pompeii it’s a surreal experience
I hope to go someday.
So did I. It was raining and there was thunder and lightning. Mine was a miserable experience
This is heartbreaking Im sure these people are at peace by now 2.0000 years later may they rest in peace
They're punished, they can't be rest in peace...
one too many zeros! 2000 not 20000 (: i think
I really like Chris’ presentation, very captivating and informative 👏🏻
those kids 💔
I thought the thumbnail was a clip of Sandman from Spiderma 3
I saw that area when my Navy ship was in port near Athens and I was on a bus trip in 1969 !!!!!!!
Sobering.
c'est fou comment, après plus de mille ans d'histoire, ils peuvent trouver un moment figé de l'invisible
Wow. This is incredable.
Excellent video, wish there was a lot more. I enjoyed every moment! Thank you
Thank you
im guessing this was 10X worse than Mount St. Helen
crazy that 3 million people still live around it, some people just never learn 🙄
The people of Pompei and Herculaneum had no idea what a volcano was. They had no inkling of what a pyroclastic flow was. A monster had suddenly awakened, and they had no idea of the size of the danger that loomed over them. Thousands of tons of Super-heated ash rushed towards them. A burning tsunami of ash and pumice so hot it reduced the people to cooked meat in seconds. It buried whole buildings, streets, and city squares.
In the decades that followed, the names of Pompei and Herculaneum faded from memory. People couldn't even find the two cities. There was nothing but smoothed over terrain.
That was immensely depressing
Why does the song WIPEOUT KEEP PLAYING OVER AND OVER IN MY HEAD WHENEVER I WATCH ANY DOCUMENTARY ON POMPEII?
Rule 1: When a volcano blows, LEAVE! Don't wait to see if your town is next or not
@andrewn7365 😅
@andrewn7365 - Too soon.
😂😂😂😅Too soon
I bet alot of people did leave. Because the size of the city compaired to the amount of bodies they found it just don’t seem everyone perished.
@splinewalker214 I'm sure you are correct. It was a port so many probably sailed out.
Is this a new doc you have coming out? I’d be excited to see it!
Brilliant vid
Let us all learn from history,!
We don't. The same lessons have to be re-learned in each generation.
We never learn
Objects buried beneath Pompeii were well-preserved for almost 2,000 years as the lack of air and moisture allowed little to no deterioration. However, Pompeii has been exposed to natural and anthropic deterioration following excavation.
Weathering, erosion, light exposure, water damage, poor methods of excavation and reconstruction, introduced plants and animals, tourism, vandalism and theft have all damaged the site in some way. The lack of adequate weather protection for all but the most interesting and important buildings has allowed original interior decoration to fade or be lost.
Volcanos are deadly
Excellent! Thank you. :)
I would have DIPPED out
One of civilization’s greatest tragedies.
Not the Boxing Day tsunami?
@cherrytraveller5915they said *ONE* of them.
Catastrophe 😣
vraiment...
People Stick Together ❤ 6:00
❤
Harsh....!! Truly Harsh....!!
I came here after having a nightmare about trying to escape a volcanic eruption. 😮
Pray to Jesus it doesnt happen to you
lemon and banana slushie
Won’t have been H2So4 they smelt, more likely Hydrogen Sulphide
❤❤❤ 😍😍😍😍😍
Listen well people, this is our ultimate fate. Live the best life you can now and be kind. That's the best we can do. 🧡🌿
Explain what you mean by this, please.
We are all going to die in ash or pyroclastic flows??
I am not going to die in a pyroclastic flow. The chances are slimmer than getting eaten by a shark.
@MossyMozart 🤣
What normal people think of when they hear Pompeii: volcano go boom
What I think of: 🎶AND IF YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES DOES IT ALWAYS FEEL LIKE NOTHINGS CHANGED AT ALL?🎶
you sound like an 11 year old
@RabidWildCreatureand?
The people in the twin towers didn't know that the buildings would collapse, because they didn't know about the demolition charges placed to accomplish a controlled demolition. Had they known that the buildings were rigged for demolition, then they would have known that the buildings would collapse. Not really allegorical to Pompeii.
Also pyroclastic flows like here are anoxic, if you were to be exposed to one it would be impossible to breathe as the air is so full of volatiles and c02 it wouldn’t even be impossible to breathe
This is haunting! These poor people absolutely suffered in their final moments. Nature is an unkind force.
Nature is. It is neither kind or unkind. There's no 'mind' or 'motivation' involved; unlike with humans.
Dudes rocking the Lance Armstrong bracelet. He's not giving up on that charity.
What time stamp??
😂😂😂😂
I think it's just a yellow bracelet
Actually a better parallel would be hurricane Katrina
Dad went there in the Navy...he. had slides.....we always had too watch, it was excursion
Everything died
As a kid, I didn't really grasp it.
Extremely heavy
We took a senior class trip to Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, and an optional day trip to Pompeii. I chose not to visit Pompeii bc I think of it a mass grave, unthinkable tragedy, and sacred space. Way too heavy and nothing that I’d like to experience ever. 💔
Danger is all around us no irrespective of location;hurricanes, lightening s, earthquakes, sinkholes pandemics etc we are always vulnerable and I think that is why procreation is cheap
It is very educationaL tho 🤷.
That makes sense.
Were DNA tests done on the fugitives?
I don't think you could.
@raymay4929 there might be a nugget of cells that were protected & preserved by the human shaped charcoal shell.
No, but Estelle Lazer and her team x-rayed all of the casts (also all the other casts in Pompeii) so we know much more about the people now. We know their gender (some are not fully clear), details about age and also some medical details. The man on the far left had serious arthritis on the wrist, and one of the victims on the right had lost one sandal but kept running, obviously too much in a rush to pick it up.
Are there bones in the bodies?
Not any more.
I believe their bodies likened that of cremations' inceration...which, during times especially of famine and disease such as the black plague, the funeral pyrre was the true answer ...thank you for your insight
Yes. Some bone & teeth.
From what I've heard, the bodies are "casts" of the people found in the ground in order to preserve them. I don't know how the process worked.
So wait… the guy in the thumbnail escaped, right?
Almost
It’s comforting to me to know that everyone is eternal and nobody truly dies. 💖
Who told you that?
People are dead for eternity. We only exist for a short time.
@altruismisanart It comes from some stone and bronze age book of drooling idiocy and myths.
Death started at 3 pm
Kids :(
Obvious has a B in it.
Pompeii closely resembled like 911 2001 the Hiroshima and Nagasaki dead
All. At once
4:13 the way his eyes beam as he described the last moments of the villagers as they burn and suffocate it’s almost like this guy gets off from human tragedy haha.
All jokes aside I’m sure he’s a nice guy.
My wife turns into a volcano when she has her monthly pyroclastic flow.
Have they not traveled through the earth and seen how was the end of those before them? They were greater than them in strength, and they tilled the land and developed it more than they have developed it. Yet their messengers came to them with clear proofs, but they refused to believe. So Allah seized them for their sins."
(Qur'an 40:21)
The sins of Pompeii was very great😢
And do not think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only postpones them for a Day when the eyes will see clearly.
Allah doesn't exist and neither do any other god(s) or goddess(es)
@PatMcL-j6o Then, how the world was created? Shouldn't everything has a cause to exist?
Who is here in 2024 because they told you to shelter in place; but, you didn’t listen; you left the building and survived? Who is here because they heeded their inner wisdom by taking the choice of dying while trying to escape over dying while cowering? When death takes me; I’ll have nothing to say. But, what did I say to The Lord of Death? NOT TODAY!!!!!!! One day you’ll get me…BUT NOT TODAY!!!!!!!!! Hug your families; and don’t let the sun set on your wrath.
The ones who aren't here in 2024 are the ones who defied 'shelter in place' and were then killed by whatever the crisis was. Maybe you would cower if you stayed put, but don't assume the rest of us would be cowering. Sometimes "discretion is the better part of valor", as they say.
@Acceleronics I survived the Twin Towers because I didn’t believe that. They still haven’t found the bodies of the people l left when I walked down those dark stairs with a flashlight l kep for emergencies. Some of my work mates ultimately jumped out of the building and this is recorded though seldom shown. I keep my building I.D. to remind d myself of the dangers of herd mentality. But, I guess your opinion is valid, too, MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 🐄.
@jyotirvakyananda I didn't realize Twin Towers had a shelter-in-place order. In fact, I'm guessing it did not. Who would stay in a burning building? My opinion is that I would evacuate a burning building. Is that valid?
@Acceleronics How old were you in 2001? You might want to read this article for a start. It’s not ideal; but, it will give you an idea of what happened that day. 9/11 was the second time the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorist. In response to the attempted bombing, evacuation plans and safe gathering zones were developed along with additional safety features added to the building. Over 2000 people died that day. Read the article below for a start. I already told you how I made it out alive. All I can do is tell you my experience. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_September_11_attacks. May you never be faced with a life and death decision like that; or the memory of walking away from a conference room full of people waiting for help that never came. The firemen attempting to rescue people in the building died when the building collapsed; and if you think about it even a little, there were no ladders tall enough to reach people in the heights of the building. If you ever have an opportunity, maybe it would be nice for you to go to New York and listen to the bell ring as people recite the names of their loved ones who perished in the tragedy I survived. I still have nightmares about that day. Is that valid; or, should I go with your theories?
@Acceleronics That’s right, you are guessing. How old were you in 2001? Let’s just say that over 2000 people died in the building that day including firemen who were trying to rescue people. And, I think about that almost every day.
None can escape when Allah punishes a group of people
This people transgressed the limits and provoked the wrath of Allah, so Allah rained upon them the scourge of His punishment and made them a sign until the Day of Resurrection.
Really?
I do not see any relationship with 9/1, why these people always try to politizise or make things up to fit the 9/11 narrative, not even closely related, one a natural disaster the other a CIA staged event to create an excuse to invade the middle east