Key takeaways:
- Search and rescue teams have found two additional bodies, raising the death toll to seven.
- The explosion erupted at the R.M. Palmer Co. facility in West Reading.
- The investigation is being conducted by the West Reading Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Search and rescue teams working to locate missing individuals after an explosion at an eastern Pennsylvania candy factory last week have found two additional bodies, raising the incident’s death toll to seven people, officials said Sunday.
The explosion erupted shortly before 5 p.m. Friday at the R.M. Palmer Co. facility in West Reading, a community of about 4,500 people that has been home to the chocolatier’s operation for more than six decades. The blast leveled the factory, stunning the town.
On Sunday morning, first responders found the fifth body at the site, which was later confirmed dead by the Berks County Coroner’s Office. The body of a fourth victim was found under debris early Sunday.
Chief of the West Reading Police Department, Wayne Holben, said at a news conference that all missing individuals have been accounted for. Mayor Samantha Kaag said the focus will now shift to an investigation of the explosion.
The cause of the explosion is still unknown. The investigation is being conducted by the West Reading Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is also involved in the investigation.
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