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Chocolate Factory Explosion in Pennsylvania Leaves Two Dead and Nine Missing Chocolate Factory Explosion in Pennsylvania Leaves Two Dead and Nine Missing
(33 minutes later)
Two people were killed and nine others were missing after a powerful explosion ripped through a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pa., on Friday, sending a plume of smoke into the air and shaking houses blocks away, officials said.Two people were killed and nine others were missing after a powerful explosion ripped through a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pa., on Friday, sending a plume of smoke into the air and shaking houses blocks away, officials said.
The explosion at around 5 p.m. destroyed part of the R.M. Palmer Company chocolate factory in West Reading, in Berks County, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Mayor Samantha Kaag said. The explosion at around 5 p.m. destroyed one building and damaged another at the R.M. Palmer Company chocolate factory in West Reading, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia, the police chief, Wayne Holben, said at a news conference.
Wayne Holben, West Reading’s police chief, confirmed the number of dead and missing at a news conference on Friday evening.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation, he said.The cause of the explosion was under investigation, he said.
Reading Hospital received a total of six patients, said a spokeswoman, Jessica Bezler. She said one of the patients would be transferred and the others were being evaluated. Reading Hospital received a total of eight patients, said a spokeswoman, Jessica Bezler. She said one of the patients had been transferred, two had been admitted in fair condition and the others would be discharged.
R.M. Palmer, founded in 1948, employs 850 people, according to its website, and is known for making seasonal chocolates, including hollow milk chocolate bunnies for Easter.
The explosion sent a column of debris, flames and dust shooting into the air, as shown in a video that was captured by weather cameras and shared on Twitter by a reporter for Fox 29 News in Philadelphia.The explosion sent a column of debris, flames and dust shooting into the air, as shown in a video that was captured by weather cameras and shared on Twitter by a reporter for Fox 29 News in Philadelphia.
“Part of the building is leveled,” Ms. Kaag said in an interview on Friday evening from the scene. She said she had felt the explosion at her house, four or five blocks from the factory. “The explosion was so big that it moved that building four feet forward,” Mayor Samantha Kaag, who is also a firefighter, said at the news conference after she responded to the scene. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great scene to come into. It was pretty scary.”
Chief Holben said that there was no danger to the surrounding area but the authorities were urging people to avoid the scene. He said that a command center had been set up to coordinate the local and state agencies that were responding to the explosion.
R.M. Palmer, founded in 1948, employs 850 people, according to its website, and is known for making seasonal chocolates, including hollow milk chocolate bunnies for Easter.
Dean Murray, the West Reading borough manager, called the company “a staple of the borough.”
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to everybody involved,” he said.
In an interview, Ms. Kaag said she had felt the explosion at her house, four or five blocks from the factory.
“I didn’t hear a boom,” she said. “I just felt it shake my house.”“I didn’t hear a boom,” she said. “I just felt it shake my house.”