Pennsylvania candy company employees mourn coworkers killed in explosion
By Barbara Barr
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WEST READING, Pennsylvania (WGAL) — The tight-knit community of West Reading is heartbroken over the deaths of seven R.M. Palmer candy factory employees killed in an explosion on Friday.
“It just feels like a nightmare. It just feels like I want to wake up from this bad dream, and everything is back to normal,” Claire Seda said.
Seda described the feeling in town; she said she had lost a dear friend.
“When I found out that they’d pulled the last victim, we knew for sure that our hope was gone,” she said.
Employees working in the building next to the one that was leveled said it was chaos.
“Ductwork, piping, everything was just falling off the ceiling all around me,” Bradley White said.
Investigators are looking for the cause of the blast. UGI said it didn’t receive reports of any gas odor, but we’re told there was talk among employees about it.
“Somebody said, ‘Yeah, I think I smell gas,’ and right after that, everything started getting nuts,” White said.
Now employees are grieving for the colleagues they lost.
“Everybody has different reactions to things. Some people are just in shock right now, numb to it. Some people are bawling their eyes out. For me, I’m dumbfounded at what just happened,” R.M. Palmer worker Xavier Tolentino said.
A memorial for the victims is growing at the site. There will be a vigil Friday night.
As for the injured, the mayor said she’s hopeful they’ll recover – including a woman pulled from the wreckage several hours after the explosion.
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