Two people are dead and at least nine are unaccounted for after an explosion rocked a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday, authorities said.
Between six and eight people were also taken for medical attention in the blast at R.M. A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said Palmer Company in West Reading, 63 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
A spokeswoman for Reading Hospital said eight people were brought to the facility. One was transferred, two were in good condition and the others were released, said a spokeswoman, Jessica Belzer, of Tower Health.
The cause of the blast was not known. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Images posted on social media showed massive flames tearing through the building and a tower of smoke after the arrival of fire fighters.
West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag told reporters that the factory was leveled. She said the explosion was so powerful it pushed a nearby building forward by several feet.
She said there's not too much to salvage from it.
Richard M. Palmer Sr. founded the company in 1948 and sold a handful of chocolates, including bunnies. According to the company's website, Palmer Company now employs 850 people and sells more than 500 seasonal products.