Huge explosion rips apart Pennsylvania chocolate factory killing two, injuring eight, nine missing
Terrifying moment as massive explosion rips apart Pennsylvania chocolate factory – two dead, eight injured and nine missing
- An explosion at a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pennsylvania, left two people dead, eight injured and nine missing
- Video of the blast sees flames, smoke, dust and debris sent skyward
- Fate befell the RM Palmer Company, which says on its website that it has been making candy since 1948
An explosion at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory on Friday left two people dead and nine missing.
Several other people were injured by the explosion at the RM Palmer Co. plant, said Wayne Holben, chief of police for the West Reading Borough Police Department, who did not confirm the exact number injured.
The explosion just before 5 p.m. was all captured on camera. Video footage saw thick, black smoke plume into the sky, destroying one building and damaging an adjacent apartment building.
“It has leveled out quite a bit,” West Reading Borough Mayor Samantha Kaag said of the blast site.
An explosion at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory on Friday left two people dead and nine people missing
The explosion just before 5 p.m. caused flames and a thick plume of black smoke
Moments before the blast, all seemed completely calm in West Reading
“The building in front, with the church and the apartments, the explosion was so big that that building moved forward a meter.”
The cause of the blast in the community about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia is under investigation, Holden told reporters.
Eight people were taken to Reading Hospital on Friday night, Tower Health spokeswoman Jessica Bezler said.
Two people were admitted in fair condition and five were treated and would be released, she said in an email.
One patient was transferred to another facility, but Bezler gave no further details.
Smoke rises from an explosion at the RM Palmer Co. factory. in West Reading, Pennsylvania
The blast destroyed one building and damaged an adjacent apartment building
Smoke can be seen in the air in the hours following the explosion in West Reading
Kaag said people were asked to move back about a block in each direction from the site of the explosion, but no evacuation order had been issued.
West Reading Borough council manager Dean Murray said some residents had been forced out of the damaged block of flats.
Kagg said council officials were not in direct contact with officials from RM Palmer, whom Murray described as “a staple of the council.”
The company’s website says it has been making ‘chocolate novelties’ since 1948 and now has 850 employees at its West Reading headquarters.
Fate befell the RM Palmer Company, which says on its website that it has been making candy since 1948
Smoke could be seen skyward even from some distance