Survivor Says She Smelled Gas at Palmer Factory
(West Reading, PA) - One of the survivors of the West Reading chocolate factory explosion says she and her co-workers smelled a strong natural gas odor about a half hour before it happened. The Reading Eagle dot com reports Patricia Borges smelled the odor so strongly it upset her stomach. She also says she asked a supervisor at the R.M. Palmer Company whether they'd be evacuated -- a half hour later the building exploded. Borges was rescued from the rubble nine hours after that. She broke a shoulder and two heels when she fell into a vat of liquid chocolate. Her doctors say she's facing a long recovery.