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An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania killed two people and left five missing, but authorities said one person was found alive in the rubble.
Rescue crews using dogs and imaging equipment continue to search through the ruins on Friday – hours after the explosion that erupted before 5 pm local time Saturday at the RM Palmer Co plant in the borough of West Reading, Northwest Philadelphia.
West Reading officials said Saturday they could only confirm two deaths. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency previously said there were five fatalities, citing county emergency management officials, but after an update from the county, officials indicated that there were two dead and five missing.
Police Chief Wayne Holben said rescuing one person from the wreckage “provides hope that others may still be found.”
Rescue workers continue to search using special equipment and techniques. Officials said dogs and imaging equipment were being used to look for signs of life as they carefully cleared the debris.
Holben said the blast destroyed one building and damaged neighboring buildings. The cause is still under investigation, he said.
“It’s pretty flat,” West Reading Borough Mayor Samantha Kaag said of the blast site.
“The building in front, with the church and the apartment, the explosion was so big that it moved the building four feet. [1.2 metres] advanced.”
A spokesman for UGI Utilities said crews were brought in after the damage from the explosion led to the release of gas that helped to feed the fire.
“We did not receive any calls about gas leaks or gas orders prior to this incident, but we are cooperating with the investigation, and the department will be inspecting all surrounding facilities,” said UGI spokesman Joseph Swope. it’s saturday
No evacuation ordered
Reading Hospital said on Friday afternoon that it has received 10 patients, and that, one was transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital and the other to Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center. Two were admitted to Reading Hospital in good to fair condition, and the other has been discharged, officials said.
Kaag said people were asked to retreat about a block in each direction from the blast site, but no evacuations were ordered. They have issued an emergency declaration just to allow more resources for first responders.
Dean Murray, West Reading Borough manager, said some residents were displaced from the damaged apartment building.
Philip Wert, vice-president of the West Reading council, said the building had been built in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and officials had to “access our archives to pull up the blueprints at night, to get a better layout good from building and mechanics and utilities, where there is stuff.”
“The silver lining in all of this is that people are found alive, some are found alive in the rubble, not knowing if they’re going to live or die, and luckily we find that person and they get a second chance – and hopefully, fingers crossed, we will find more,” he said.
Officials said RM Palmer, which Murray described as “principal of the borough,” is expected to make a statement shortly.
The company’s website says it has been making “novel chocolates” since 1948 and now has 850 employees at its West Reading headquarters. Its Facebook page included an entry earlier this month advertising Easter treats, such as chocolate bunnies and the “newest milk chocolate” in the “rabbit family” with jelly beans inside.
The company is not the most famous chocolate maker in the region, with Hershey Co. less than an hour to the west.
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