Officials: 2 dead, 5 missing in Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion

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WEST READING, Pa. (AP) — An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday killed two people and left five people missing, authorities said. One person was pulled from the rubble overnight.

Rescue crews using dogs and imaging equipment continued to search through the rubble Saturday — hours after the blast that erupted just before 5 p.m. Friday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia.

West Reading officials said Saturday they could confirm only two fatalities. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency had earlier said there were five fatalities, citing county emergency management officials, but after an update from the county also indicated that two had died and five were missing.

Chief of Police Wayne Holben said the rescue of one person from the rubble “provides hope that others still may be found.” Rescue workers were continuing a thorough search using specialized equipment and techniques. Officials said dogs and imaging equipment were being used to look for signs of life during the careful removal of debris.

https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/six-injured-in-blast-at-pennsylvania-chocolate-17859408.php#photo-23611055

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1. You can only ignore those pesky gas leaks for so long before they come back to bite you.

What you are seeing, in those photos, is the results of an accidental fuel/air bomb.

I worked at a major university and the idiot vendors (some of the world's largest caterers) ignored leaking gas. They wouldn't maintain equipment because it cost money. What was worse was when I pointed out the danger to the University officials, they didn't want to address it and offend the caterers. (where the upper management ate for free in violation of the rules) It was a bomb, in the middle of campus waiting to happen. They tore the old buildings down three years ago, but the same vendors will create the same problems in the new facility.