An R.M Palmer-owned factory that specialises in producing chocolate Easter bunnies suffered a deadly explosion that claimed the lives of seven people late last week.
While the cause as of this moment remains unknown, local officials suspect the cause of the devastating explosion, located approximately 60 miles north-west of Philadelphia, was caused by a gas leak at around 5pm last Friday.
After rescue crews were able to pull a survivor from the debris Saturday morning with the assistance of heavy equipment and sniffer dogs, hope remained high among emergency services that more survivors would be found beneath the rubble.
As the day went on the borough Fire Chief, Chad Moyer, conceded that the chance of finding more surviving factory workers was “decreasing rapidly”, while West Reading Mayor, Samantha Kaag, urged people to “hold out for hope” in receiving answers for the tragedy.
She continued in a statement: “Please understand that this is a devastating loss, but we are truly grateful to bring closure to the families involved in the upcoming days.”
Three buildings around the site were being condemned as a ‘precaution’, according to Kaag.
“This does not mean they are slated for demolition or uninhabitable,” Kaag stressed. “Simply that there will still be work happening around them as we proceed and they will need to be looked at further by structural engineers.”
The R.M. Palmer Company was first founded in 1948 by Richard M. Palmer in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania. The company later built the factory in West Reading at some point during the 1950s, which has become its headquarters.
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