Five dead after deadly ‘gas leak’ explosion ripped apart Pennsylvania chocolate factory – with six missing and eight hospitalized as firefighters battle raging inferno
- Five are dead after a supposed gas leak caused an explosion at RM Palmer Company in West Reading on Friday
- Six are still missing while eight people have been hospitalized for their injuries
- Officials have not determined the cause of the explosion, but Garry Witmoyer, of, Wyomissing, said it sounded like a gas explosion
Five people have died after a ‘gas leak’ caused a Pennsylvania chocolate factory to explode, hospitalizing eight and leaving six still missing as the inferno raged.
RM Palmer Company in West Reading caught fire last night after a terrifying explosion caused by a supposed gas leak.
Officials have not determined the cause of the explosion, but Garry Witmoyer, of, Wyomissing, said it sounded like a gas explosion.
‘I didn’t know, I just come running out and saw that mess over there. I think it was a gas explosion the way it sounded,’ he told ABC 6. ‘It was very scary, the building filled with smoke from just the explosion.’
Her son said: ‘I didn’t see flames at first, just a bunch of shingles and materials falling from the sky. I knew it was an explosion.’
No one was evacuated before the explosion, which has left firefighters to still battling the blaze. RM Palmer Building #2 has been completely destroyed and building #1 has sustained some damage.
RM Palmer Company in West Reading caught fire last night after a terrifying explosion after a supposed gas leak. Officials have not determined the cause of the explosion, but Garry Witmoyer, of, Wyomissing, said it sounded like a gas explosion
Firefighters are still battling the blaze where six are still missing, eight have been hospitalized, and five have died
The explosion took place just before 5pm and everyone within a block radius was asked to stay away from the area while emergency efforts took place. Officials have said there is not immediate danger to the community.
Nearby resident Kristen Wisniewski said it was the ‘loudest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.’
‘It literally felt like the ground fell out from underneath you. The whole house shook and my dogs froze, they couldn’t move, it was scary,’ she told ABC 6.
Mayor Samantha Kaag, who is also a firefighter, was on the scene within in minutes of it going up in flames.
Kaag said the explosion was so powerful it moved an apartment building ‘four feet forward.’
https://youtube.com/watch?v=fm0ELHps8Uo%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US
Large plumes of smoke rise from the destroyed factory. No one was evacuated before the explosion and police are still investigating
The explosion took place just before 5pm and everyone within a block radius was asked to stay away from the area while emergency efforts took place
Dean Murray, the borough manager of West Reading Borough, said some residents were displaced from the damaged apartment building.
‘It’s pretty leveled, unfortunately there’s not too much to be able to salvage from it,’ she said of the explosion.
The explosion was caught on camera. Video footage saw a plume of thick, black smoke into the air.
The cause of the blast in the community about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia was under investigation, Holden told reporters.
The blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building that included apartments
Smoke rises from an explosion at the RM Palmer Copamy plant in West Reading, Pennsylvania
Eight people were taken to Reading Hospital Friday evening, Tower Health spokeswoman Jessica Bezler said.
Two people were admitted in fair condition and five were being treated and would be released, she said in an email.
One patient was transferred to another facility, but Bezler provided no further details.
Kagg said borough officials were not in immediate contact with officials from R.M. Palmer, which Murray described as ‘a staple of the borough.’
The company’s website says it has been making ‘chocolate novelties’ since 1948 and now has 850 employees at its West Reading headquarters.
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