An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday killed three people and left four missing, authorities said. One person was pulled alive from the rubble overnight.
Rescue teams using dogs and imaging equipment continued to search through the rubble on Saturday, hours after the explosion that went off just before 5 p.m. Friday at the RM Palmer Co. plant in the West Reading district, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia.
West Reading County Police Chief Wayne Holben said the death toll rose Saturday with the discovery of a third body at the site. The Berks County Medical Examiner and Medical Examiner Saturday night also confirmed three deaths.
County Fire Chief Chad Moyer said four people were still missing as emergency personnel continue to search for victims and state and local fire investigators examine the scene to determine the cause.
“Due to the violence of the explosion and the amount of time that has passed, the chance of finding survivors is rapidly diminishing,” Moyer said. “However, please be assured that our primary goal is to account for all missing persons and reunite them with their loved ones.”
Holben previously said the rescue of one person from the rubble “provides hope that others may still be found.” Rescue teams were continuing an exhaustive search using specialized equipment and techniques. Authorities said dogs and imaging equipment were being used to search for signs of life during the careful removal of debris.
The explosion destroyed a building and damaged a neighboring building. Roads near the site will be closed until 8 a.m. Monday, Holben said.
“It’s pretty level,” Mayor Samantha Kaag said of the blast site. “The building in the front, with the church and the apartments, the explosion was so big that it moved that building four feet forward.”
Reading Hospital said Saturday afternoon that it had received 10 patients, including one 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 released, authorities said.
A UGI Utilities spokesman said equipment was brought in after the damage from the explosion caused the release of gas that was helping to fuel the fire.
“We did not receive any calls about a gas leak or a gas order prior to the incident. But we are cooperating with the investigation and part of that will be checking all of our facilities in the surrounding area,” UGI spokesman Joseph Swope said on Saturday.
RM Palmer said in a statement Saturday night that everyone at the company was "devastated by the tragic events" and "focused on supporting our employees and their families".
“We have lost close friends and colleagues, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of all those affected,” the company said, expressing its gratitude for the “extraordinary efforts” of first responders and the support of the Reading community. , “which has been the home of our business for more than 70 years.”
RM Palmer said he was looking forward to getting in touch with his employees and their families. But his email, phones and other communication systems were down, and he relied on first responders and disaster recovery organizations to provide information to affected families. The company said that "provide additional information and contact employees, affected families and the community as soon as possible".
Kaag said people were asked to move back one block in each direction, but no evacuations were ordered. She had issued an emergency declaration just to allow more resources for first responders. City Manager Dean Murray said some residents were displaced from the damaged apartment building.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, who visited the site Saturday along with the director of the emergency management agency, pledged “any and all Commonwealth resources necessary 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 helping since last night, and additional personnel arrived Saturday, he said. A state police fire marshal was also assisting in the investigation, she said.
Philip Wert, vice president of West Reading council, said the building was built in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and officials had to "access our archive to get the plans last night, in order to get a better design of the building". and mechanics and utilities, where things are.”
“The silver lining to all of this is that someone was found alive, someone was found alive in the rubble, not knowing if they were going to live or die, and luckily we found that person and they have a second chance, and hopefully fingers crossed for find more,” he said.
Frank González was standing on a hill overlooking the blast site, watching the debris being cleared. He said his sister, Diana Cedeño, was working at the plant at the time of the explosion and was among those missing.
"Not good. It’s just stressful waiting, not knowing,” he said, expressing his frustration at what he perceived as a lack of communication from authorities about the search. “We keep communicating, pestering, keeping her name alive in case she’s there and says her name.”
He said his sister has two adult children, including a son who is stationed abroad. She has a side job decorating parties and has also been studying for the ministry at her church, she said.
González said his son and nephew had also worked at the plant, but his son had quit a few months ago “because he said he didn’t like the smell of gas there.” His son and his niece had complained about the odor to plant supervisors, who told them, “It’s okay. We did it. It is being managed. 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 roof collapsed and she had to crawl under the machinery to get out, she said. DeJesus said he rushed to the scene to find her “shaking and crying hysterically,” and that she was still too shaken to talk about what had happened.
Plant employees, including his stepdaughter, had been complaining about the smell of gas throughout Friday, DeJesus said.
“Everyone complained that it smelled like gas and kept running them,” he said. “The supervisors told them it was nothing. He was being cared for.”
A message was previously sent to RM Palmer seeking comment on the explosion. Doug Olexy was home from work and checking email when the explosion rocked his house, rattling windows and vibrating the walls.
“It sounded like a bomb had gone off,” he recalled Saturday. “I mean, all our houses shook. I have never heard such a loud explosion in my life.”
He and his neighbors ran out into the street immediately afterward, only to be met with thick black smoke. At first, Olexy thought it was a train wreck because there are tracks nearby. Later he learned that it was the Palmer plant, which he called a West Reading institution.
“Everybody knows Palmer chocolate,” he said.
RM Palmer’s website says it has been making chocolate novelties since 1948 and now has 850 employees at its West Reading headquarters. Her Facebook page includes posts earlier this month announcing Easter treats like chocolate bunnies and "the newest milk chocolate hollow" in its "bunny family" like one with jelly beans inside. However, the company is by no means the best-known chocolate maker in the region, with Hershey less than an hour to the west.
