Terrifying moment A huge explosion destroys a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania: two dead, eight injured and nine missing
- Two people are dead, eight injured and nine are missing after an explosion at a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pennsylvania.
- Video of the explosion shows flames, smoke, dust and debris being sent up into the sky.
- Tragedy struck the RM Palmer Company, which says on its website that it has been making candy since 1948.
An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday killed two people and left nine missing.
Several other people were injured in the blast at the RM Palmer Co. plant, said West Reading Borough Police Department Police Chief Wayne Holben, who would not confirm the exact number of injuries.
The explosion just before 5 pm was caught on camera. Video footage saw a column of thick black smoke in the air, which destroyed a building and damaged a neighboring building that included apartments.
“It’s pretty level,” West Reading County Mayor Samantha Kaag said of the blast site.
An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday killed two people and left nine people missing.
The explosion just before 5 p.m. sent flames and a column of thick, black smoke into the air.
Moments before the explosion, all seemed completely calm in West Reading.
“The building in the front, with the church and the apartments, the explosion was so big that it moved that building four feet forward.”
The cause of the explosion in the community about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia was 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 good condition and five were being treated and would be released, he said in an email.
One patient was transferred to another facility, but Bezler did not provide further details.
Smoke rises from an explosion at the RM Palmer Co. plant in West Reading, Pennsylvania
The explosion destroyed a building and damaged a neighboring building that included apartments.
Smoke can be seen in the air in the hours after the explosion in West Reading.
Kaag said people were asked to move back one block in each direction from the blast site, but no evacuations were ordered.
Dean Murray, the West Reading Borough town manager, said some residents were displaced from the damaged apartment building.
Kagg said township officials were not in immediate contact with officials at RM Palmer, who Murray described as “a township staple.”
The company’s website says it has been making “chocolate novelties” since 1948 and now has 850 employees at its West Reading headquarters.
Tragedy struck the RM Palmer Company, which says on its website that it has been making candy since 1948.
Smoke could be seen billowing in the air even from some distance away.
