WEST READING (AP) – Investigators looking for the cause of a deadly explosion that leveled part of a Berks County chocolate factory are facing an even more difficult task as they comb through wreckage that was picked apart and moved around during the weekend search for victims and survivors. Seven people were killed and several others wounded in the powerful blast at the R.M Palmer Company plant in West Reading. Authorities say the task is even more complicated because heavy equipment was used to pick apart the wreckage. They declined to address reports that plant workers had detected an odor of gas before the explosion. The gas utility UGI said it had received no reports of a gas leak at the company. The Berks County Coroner’s Office identified two of the victims: 49-year-old Amy Sandoe of Ephrata and 60-year-old Domingo Cruz of Reading.
