Fall into chocolate vat saved woman’s life in factory explosion

Emergency personnel work at the site of a deadly explosion at a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pa., Friday, March 24, 2023. ( Ben Hasty /Reading Eagle via AP)

A woman pulled alive from the aftermath of a Pennsylvania factory explosion which killed seven co-workers survived after falling into a vat of liquid chocolate.

Flames had engulfed the RM Palmer Co factory in West Reading and Patricia Borges’ arm when the floor collapsed, sending her into the chocolate and extinguishing the flames.

The 50-year-old, who broke her collarbone and both of her heels in the fall, was rescued from the rubble nine hours later.

“When I began to burn, I thought it was the end for me,” she said from her hospital bed.

“I asked God why he was giving me such a horrible death. I asked him to save me, that I didn’t want to die in the fire.” A cause of the explosion – which injured 10 others – has not been determined, but the Federal Transportation Safety Agency has characterised it as a natural gas explosion.

She said workers had complained about a gas odour about 30 minutes before the explosion and is angry the factory was not evacuated.