West Reading community comes together for vigil after deadly chocolate factory explosion
WEST READING, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- The West Reading community came together Friday night following a devastating explosion that killed seven people at a chocolate factory.
The blast happened last Friday night at R.M. Palmer Company.
Autopsies preliminarily revealed that all seven victims died of blast injuries. The manner of death is pending further investigation by other agencies, officials said.
SEE ALSO: 7 victims killed in West Reading chocolate factory explosion identified
The National Transportation Safety Board is examining a natural gas pipeline for fractures and other damage as they gather evidence on the cause of last week's explosion, a spokesperson said Wednesday.
Federal investigators have said natural gas was involved in the explosion.
On Friday night, a motorcade guided family, R.M. Palmer employees and community members to the West Reading Fire Department for a vigil.
One by one religious leaders spoke out in prayer to help guide a community in mourning. People were seen hugging one another for comfort as many tears were shed for the victims.
"It's been tough. One of my girlfriends was Sue, who passed away. We had the funeral today... It's been tough," said Bambi Cipolla, an R.M. Palmer employee.
"A roller coaster of emotions. Sad, confused, trying to heal," said Jennifer Aeames, an R.M. Palmer employee.
"I made a collage of the community support and what it means to live in West Reading, and how we all come together," explained Brittany Gracely of West Reading.
SEE ALSO: Survivor pulled from rubble of factory explosion speaks out: 'Thought it was the end for me'
A woman pulled alive from the rubble says her arm caught fire as flames engulfed the building, and then she fell through the floor into a vat of liquid chocolate.
The dark liquid extinguished her blazing arm, but Patricia Borges wound up breaking her collarbone and both of her heels. She would spend the next nine hours screaming for help and waiting for rescue as firefighters battled the inferno and choppers thumped overhead at the R.M. Palmer Co. factory.
"When I began to burn, I thought it was the end for me," Borges, 50, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview from her hospital bed in West Reading, just minutes from the chocolate factory where she worked as a machine operator. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board planned to interview Borges on Friday.
Borges said she and others had complained about a gas odor about 30 minutes before the factory blew up. She is angry Palmer didn't immediately evacuate. She said the deaths of her co-workers, including her close friend Judith Lopez-Moran, could've been prevented.
Others workers have also said they smelled natural gas, according to their relatives. Palmer, a 75-year-old, family-run company with deep roots in the small town 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia, has not responded to questions about the workers' claims.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
