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September 25, 2023 | Susan Napier-Sewell

Pennsylvania Chocolate Factory Explosion, Fatalities Investigation

chocolate factory

Featured image courtesy of NTSB via CNN: Source/credit, “NTSB investigation into Pennsylvania candy factory explosion reveals natural gas was leaking from 2 service lines,” by Aya Elamroussi and Sara Smart, July 21, 2023″; (The National Transportation Safety Board released images showing the 1982 DuPont Aldyl A service tee from the Pennsylvania candy factory).*

The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) is conducting an investigation into the March 2023 chocolate factory explosion which killed seven and has released a preliminary report.

AP (Associated Press) tells us about the immediate aftermath of the chocolate factory explosion in West Reading, PA, “Rescue crews using dogs and imaging equipment continued to search through the rubble Saturday — hours after the blast that erupted just before 5 p.m. Friday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia.”**

Fast forward to the NTSB investigation which has uncovered a natural gas leak from a couple of service lines. CNN tells us, “The [NTSB] report found that gas was leaking from a DuPont Aldyl A service tee installed in 1982 at the R.M. Palmer Co. facility, where the deadly explosion also injured 11 others on March 24, according to the NTSB. A service tee is a fitting that connects multiple pipes together in a T-shaped configuration.”

*Featured image courtesy of NTSB via CNN: Source/credit, “NTSB investigation into Pennsylvania candy factory explosion reveals natural gas was leaking from 2 service lines,” by Aya Elamroussi and Sara Smart, July 21, 2023.” (The National Transportation Safety Board released images showing the 1982 DuPont Aldyl A service tee from the Pennsylvania candy factory.)

*Content source/credit: CNN, “NTSB investigation into Pennsylvania candy factory explosion reveals natural gas was leaking from 2 service lines,” by Aya Elamroussi and Sara Smart, July 21, 2023.

**Content source/credit: AP, “Officials: 2 dead, 5 missing in chocolate factory explosion,” March 25, 2023.

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