Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion leaves at least 5 dead, 6 missing
A deadly explosion at a chocolate factory in eastern Pennsylvania on Friday night killed five people, injured eight others and damaged and destroyed nearby buildings and homes.
Meanwhile, a search continued Saturday morning for at least half a dozen people still missing after the blast, officials said.
West Reading Borough Police Chief Wayne Holben said the blast took place just before 5pm at the RM Palmer Co. factory in West Reading.
On Saturday, officials continued to investigate the causes of the explosion at the plant about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
The identities of the dead, injured and missing were not immediately known.
‘My town has disappeared’:At least 23 dead after tornadoes cross Mississippi, emergency officials report
Mississippi:Tornadoes cause death, destruction: photos show damage; what we know
Friday’s explosion at 4:57 p.m. sent a plume of black smoke into the air and resulted in the destruction, Holben said, of a building at the facility and damage to a nearby building.
Holden was asking people to avoid the factory area on Saturday.
Photos from the scene early Saturday showed smoke billowing from the plant as firefighters remained on the scene searching for survivors.
“It’s pretty level,” Mayor Samantha Kaag said of the site of the blast. “The building in front, with the church and the apartments, the explosion was so big that it moved that building one meter forward.”
Kaag said people were told to move back about a block in each direction from the site of the blast, but no evacuations were ordered.
Eight taken to hospital
Tower Health spokeswoman Jessica Bezler said officials transported eight people to Reading Hospital on Friday evening.
Two people were admitted in fair condition and five were being treated and would be released, she told The Associated Press in an email. A patient was transferred to another facility, but Bezler did not provide any further details.
Displaced residents
West Reading Borough Superintendent Dean Murray said some residents had been moved from a damaged building.
Kagg said borough officials were not in immediate contact with officials at RM Palmer, whom Murray described as “a fixture in the borough.”
According to the company’s website, the factory has been making “chocolate novelties” since 1948 and now has 850 employees at its West Reading headquarters.
Contributor: Associated Press
Natalie Neysa Alund covers the latest news and trends for USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
USA Today
