Final Moments of Pompeii

A pyroclastic surge - a deadly, fast-moving avalanche of searing gas and rock fragments - made its way toward Herculaneum.  People, who thought they would be safe on the beach, were not.  All died from the enormous heat, essentially turned into charcoal.  For them, at least, death was instantaneous.  

Inside the boat houses, however, people died from thermal shock.  Teeth and bones were shattered in the boiling material which descended upon them.  Three hundred men, women and children were found in Herculaneum's boat houses.  They had remained there, for thousands of years, until their remains were discovered by archaeologists.

When Vesuvius' magma chamber collapsed, triggering another pyroclastic surge, the toxic materials headed straight for Pompeii.  Still, inhabitants of the city were not all killed.  The city was not yet buried.

The worst was still to come.

See, also:

People of Pompeii

Pompeii and Vesuvius

The Last Day of Pompeii

Pompeii - While Vesuvius Erupts

Death of People in Pompeii

Credits

Clip from "Pompeii: The Last Day," a docudrama produced by the BBC (in association with TLC/NDR) and co-produced in association with France 2.  Original air date, on BBC One, was October 20, 2003. 

The film is based, in part, on Pliny the Younger's letters about the Vesuvius eruption.  It uses computer-generated images to recreate what the eruption must have been like for the residents of Pompeii.  Online, courtesy BBC and YouTube.

Written by:    
Edward Canfor-Dumas

Director:    
Peter Nicholson

Narrator:
Alisdair Simpson

Starring:    
Tim Pigott-Smith (Pliny the Elder)
Alex Furguson (Pliny the Younger)
Katherine Whitburn (Julia)
Jim Carter (Polybius)