Chocolate factory explosion kills 3

5 missing in Pennsylvania facility’s rubble; 1 pulled out alive

WEST READING, Pa. — An explosion Friday at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania killed three people and left five people missing, authorities said. One person was pulled alive from the rubble overnight.

Rescue crews using dogs and imaging equipment continued to search through the rubble Saturday, hours after the blast, which occurred just before 4 p.m. Friday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The Berks County medical examiner and coroner confirmed three fatalities Saturday night. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency reported earlier that there were five fatalities, citing county emergency management officials, but an update from the county indicated that two had died and five were missing.

Police Chief Wayne Holben said the rescue of one person from the rubble “provides hope that others still may be found.”

Holben said the blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. The cause remains under investigation, he said.

Reading Hospital said Saturday afternoon that it had received 10 patients, of which one was transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital and another to Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center. Two were admitted to Reading Hospital in good and fair condition, respectively, and the others had been discharged, officials said.

A UGI Utilities spokesperson said crews were brought in after damage from the blast led to the release of gas that was helping feed the fire.

“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,” UGI spokesperson Joseph Swope said Saturday.

R.M. Palmer said Saturday in a statement that the company’s “thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of all who have been impacted,” the company said, expressing gratitude for the “extraordinary efforts” of first responders and the support of the West Reading community.

Frank Gonzalez watched the rubble being cleared. He said his sister, Diana Cedeno, was working at the plant at the time of the blast and was among the missing.

“We keep reaching out … keeping her name alive just in case she is in there,” Gonzalez said.

He said his sister has two adult children, including a son who is deployed overseas.

Gonzalez said his son and nephew also worked at the plant, but his son had quit a few months ago “because he said he didn’t like the smell of the gas that was in there.”

He said his son and nephew complained about the smell to plant supervisors, who told them, “It’s being handled. Don’t worry about it.”

R.M. Palmer said it was anxious to get in touch with its employees and their families. But its communication systems were down and it was relying on first responders and disaster recovery organizations to provide information to affected families.

Mayor Samantha Kaag said no evacuations were ordered. She had issued an emergency declaration only to allow more resources for first responders. Borough manager Dean Murray said some residents were displaced from the damaged apartment building.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, who visited the site Saturday along with the emergency management agency director, vowed that he will use “any and all commonwealth resources needed to support ongoing recovery efforts — in addition to the extensive assets that have already been deployed.”

A team of structural engineers and K-9s from a state urban search-and-rescue task force had been assisting since Friday night, and additional personnel arrived Saturday, he said. A state police fire marshal was also assisting in the investigation, he said.

Philip Wert, vice president of the West Reading council, said the building had been constructed in the late 1950s or early 1960s and officials had to “access our archive to pull the blueprints last night, in order to get a better layout of … where things are.”

“The silver lining in all this is someone was found alive … in [the] rubble” he said. “Fingers crossed, we’re going to find more.”