A woman alive from the rubble of a Pennsylvania chocolate factory after an A bang, which killed seven collaborators He says that the house is drowned in flames, and the lizards, when he gives way to the ground beneath him.
That could have been the end if he had fallen into a pool of liquid chocolate.
The dark liquid extinguished the burning arm, but Patricia Borges broke his throat and wounded both with her heel.
She spent the next nine hours screaming for help and waiting for firefighters to fight the inferno and choppers into the inferno at the RM Palmer Co. factory.
“When I started to get sick, I thought it was the end of me,” Borges, 50, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview from his hospital bed in West Reading, Pennsylvania, just minutes from the criminal factory where he worked as a machine operator.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board interviewed Borges on Friday, according to his family.
The March 24 blast at RM Palmer killed seven Borges collaborators and wounded 10.
Federal, state and local investigations compared
The cause has not been determined, but the federal transportation safety agency has it is characterized natural gas noise
“Everything is on the table here because the investigation has not yet been completed. To say this in one way, I would not have said it in this place, said Beohm.
Two state police fire marshals are working to determine the cause and origin of the explosion, he said.
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which regulates workplace safety, was also on site.
Natural gas was not the only possible cause.
Chocolate companies and other food manufacturers must take care to mitigate the risk of fire and explosions from flammable dust caused by ingredients such as cocoa powder and corn starch, said Holly Burgess, technical lead for industrial and chemical safety at the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association. a group that produces hundreds of codes and symbols.
Burgess said smaller particles that stay aloft pose a greater risk than larger particles that quickly fall to the ground.
Food manufacturers are supposed to determine the combustibility of the dust, carry out a hazard analysis and then take steps to manage it.
“Each mass is different, so the chocolate material in the cocoa that I’m getting from one place can have a larger particle size or a smaller particle size. That’s what they usually do on their probation,” Burgess said, speaking generally and not about the issue with Palmer.
Commercial ovens and furnaces and commercial refrigerants using ammonia are other primary sources of explosives in food plants, he said.
Records from OSHA, the federal workplace safety agency, show only one violation at the West Reading plant over the past five years.
In 2018, a worker lost the tip of a finger while cleaning a pneumatically pressurized ball valve.
The company agreed to pay a $13,000 fine.
In January, records show, OSHA issued a penalty of more than $12,000 after an inspection of the RM Palmer plant near Wyomissing.
Details of that case were not immediately available.
RM Palmer said at the weekend that the claim was devastating to everyone at the company and reaching out to employees and their families through first responders and disaster recovery organizations because its communications systems were down.
“The tragic events that occurred on Friday have had a profound impact on all of us at RM Palmer, and we appreciate the outpouring of support as we all continue to deal with the loss of our friends and colleagues,” the company said on Facebook Sunday.
The company no longer commented. He did not respond to questions from The Associated Press on Monday.
The Berks County coroner’s office identified the two victims as 49-year-old Amy Sandoe of Ephrata and 60-year-old Domingo Cruz of Reading and that “additional forensic questions” would be needed to positively identify the other five victims. An autopsy could be expected by the end of the week, officials said.
Rescue crews use fantastic equipment and dogs to search for survivors after an explosion destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building.
Crews used heavy equipment to methodically and carefully pull the debris from the site, according to police Chief Wayne Holben.
Three buildings around the site have been condemned as a precaution pending further examination by structural engineers to ensure their safety.
Officials said they had no update on the condition of the woman pulled alive from the wreckage early Saturday.
Mayor Samantha Kaag said she appeared on the second floor and called out to the rescuers in the “hope of hope” situation despite her injuries and found the dog behind.
The reading hospital said it received 10 patients and transferred two to other facilities, while two others were admitted in good and fair condition, and the others were released.
Dr. Charles Barbera, the hospital’s president and CEO, said one of the patients admitted Monday was discharged.
UGI spokesperson Joe Swope said the utility detected leaks in a few areas of the flat pavement some distance from the plant after the gas was turned back on and repairs were completed.
“The company believes this is an explosion near Palmer,” he said.
