WEST READING, Pa. — Authorities in Berks County have identified the remains of two victims pulled from the rubble of the RM Palmer chocolate factory in West Reading.
The Berks County Coroner's Office announced that the bodies of Amy S. Sandoe, 49, of Ephrata, Lancaster County, and Domingo Cruz, 60, of Reading, were recovered from the rubble of the factory, which was destroyed in an explosion Friday night.
Five other people were killed in the explosion, but their bodies will require additional forensic examination in order to be identified, the coroner's office said in a press release.
The bodies of Sandoe and Cruz were recovered Sunday night, according to West Reading mayor Samantha Kaag. The bodies of two other victims were recovered Sunday morning, Kaag said.
Rescue crews had been using heat imaging equipment and dogs to search for possible survivors after the blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. Crews were using heavy equipment to methodically and carefully pull debris from the site, Holben said.
Three buildings around the site will be condemned as a precaution, Kaag said.
“This does not mean they are slated for demolition or uninhabitable,” she said. “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.”
Officials said they had no update on the condition of a woman pulled alive from the rubble early Saturday. Kaag said she had apparently been on the second floor and was found in a “hopeful circumstance,” calling out to rescuers despite her injuries after a dog located her.
Officials also reported no updates on the conditions of those taken to hospitals. Reading Hospital said it received 10 patients and transferred two to other facilities, while two others were admitted in good and fair condition respectively and the others had been discharged.
R.M. Palmer said in a statement Saturday that everyone at the company was “devastated" and it was reaching out to employees and their families through first responders and disaster recovery organizations because its communication systems were down.
Kaag, a volunteer firefighter herself, said rescue crews had been working 12- to 16-hour shifts and were so dedicated to continuing the search that “you have to pull them away at this point" to swap out and get some rest.
Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the site Saturday and vowed support from the state.
Kaag said some residents have reported damage to windows from the blast, and she asked people to “take a walk around your house” and report any damage.
State and local fire investigators are continuing to examine the scene to try to determine the cause of the blast.