A chocolate factory explosion in West Reading, Pennsylvania, has left two people dead and five missing, according to authorities.
The explosion destroyed building No. 2, located at 55 S. 2nd Avenue, and damaged the adjacent Palmer building No. 1, located at 77 S. 2nd Avenue.
Six injured people were transferred to Tower Hospital in West Reading. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency acknowledged the uptick in fatalities early Saturday morning.
Rescue crews using dogs and imaging equipment continued to search through the rubble on Saturday, hours after the blast erupted.
Borough Fire Chief Chad Moyer said four people remained missing as emergency personnel continued searching for victims and state and local fire investigators examined the scene to determine a cause.
“We did not receive any calls regarding a gas leak or gas order prior to the incident, but we are cooperating with the investigation, and part of that will be to check all our facilities in the vicinity,” spokesperson Joseph Swope explained.
Mayor Samantha Kaang said in a statement that the building was level before the explosion.
“The building in the front, with the church and the apartments, the explosion was so big that it moved that building four feet forward.”
Kaang also said that people were told to move one block away from the site, but there were no orders to evacuate. But some people who lived in the damaged apartment building had to move. Between the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, the R.M. Palmer Co. plant was built. West Reading councilman Philip Wert said that the building’s layout and “the mechanicals and the utilities, where things are,” were shown on blueprints.
“The silver lining in all this is someone was found alive, someone was found alive that was in rubble, not knowing whether they were going to live or die, and fortunately we found that person and they’ve got a second chance, and hopefully fingers crossed we’re going to find more,”
The origin of the explosion is yet unknown, however several manufacturing employees had complained of a gas odour.
Frank Gonzalez said his sister, Diana Cedeno, was working at the plant at the time of the blast and was among the missing.
“It’s not good. It’s just stressful waiting, not knowing,” he said, expressing frustration at what he perceived as a lack of communication from authorities about the search. “We keep reaching out, bugging, keeping her name alive just in case she is in there and says her name.”
He said that his sister has two grown kids, one of whom is serving abroad. He said that she also works as a party decorator and has been studying for the ministry at her church.
Gonzalez said his son and nephew had also worked at the plant, but that his son had quit a few months ago “because he said he didn’t like the smell of the gas that was in there.” His son and nephew had complained about the smell to plant supervisors, who told them, “‘It’s all right. We got it. It’s being handled. Don’t worry about it,’” he said.
Frank DeJesus said his stepdaughter, Arelis Rivera Santiago, a Palmer employee, was working in the building next door at the time of the blast. The ceiling caved, and she had to crawl under machinery to make it out, he said. DeJesus said he rushed to the scene to find her “shaking and crying hysterically,” and she was still too shaken to speak about what had happened.
Plant employees, including his stepdaughter, had complained about smelling gas throughout the day Friday, DeJesus said.
“Everyone complained about smelling gas, and they kept making them work,” he said. “The supervisors told them it was nothing. It was being taken care of.”
Source – Tru News Report
