WEST READING, Pa. — A Lancaster County man who was injured in last month's explosion at the R.M. Palmer chocolate factory in West Reading has filed a lawsuit against the company, his attorneys confirmed Tuesday.
Mark Baxter, 59, of New Holland, is a truck driver who was making a delivery of melted chocolate at the unloading area of the facility just before 5 p.m. on March 24, when the explosion occurred.
After the explosion, which leveled most of the building and claimed the lives of seven people, Baxter was partially buried under rubble. Emergency personnel and bystanders helped rescue Baxter, who suffered second- and third-degree burns to 19% of his body, along with cuts, bruises, eye abrasions, hearing loss and other injuries, according to the lawsuit filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia.
Baxter spent four days in a local hospital receiving treatment for his injuries, according to the lawsuit, which also names UGI Utilities as a defendant.
The lawsuit claims that R.M. Palmer had been told by workers, contractors and other visitors to the business that there was a gas smell at the facility on the day of the explosion, but the company did not take any action.
The National Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating the incident but has not released an official determination of what caused the explosion.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and asked for a jury trial.
It is the third civil lawsuit filed in the aftermath of the explosion. The family of Judith Loez-Moran, 55, who died in the explosion, has filed one of the lawsuits, while Betty Wright, whose apartment is located next to the facility, filed the other.