Death toll rises to seven in Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion

Welcome back. You are looking at the video from the moment a powerful explosion rocked a chocolate factory in eastern Pennsylvania. At least seven people died in that blast. NBC News correspondent George Solis is in West Reading where this explosion happened and joins us now for more on this developing story. Good morning George. So what can you tell us about the latest on the death toll and the investigation there? Good morning Stephen. It's obviously a somber morning here in West Reading, Pennsylvania.

Seven confirmed dead after this deadly explosion that really rocked this community. There was some hope over the weekend when one person alone survivor was saved from this avalanche of debris and rubble following this explosion. Officials said they were going to work through the weekend to try and find more survivors. And unfortunately that death toll just kept climbing late last night. Officials confirming that the final two bodies were recovered from the rubble. So now this transitions from that search and recovery effort to just clean up and crews here are being very methodical still as they work and clean up this debris. And again, people in this community are just reeling because this factory here has been in this community for decades.

Just devastating to see that video of the explosion. George, the destruction of the building there pretty evidence. So just how bad is the damage to the surrounding area? Yeah, we were told by officials that this blast was so powerful that the building next to it actually moved around four feet from its foundation and three buildings around the explosion site have now been condemned. You can rest assure that now that they are no longer looking for bodies in this rubble, they're going to go in there and be a lot more methodical around the blast zone to see if what other buildings maybe structurally sound as a result of this blast is going to be a massive cleanup effort. As you can see from some of the images and some of the video that you're seeing. So this is going to be a very lengthy investigation, Stephen. And George, what about the community? How are they responding? You mentioned how a big part this factory was for them.

It's been there since the 40s. What are they saying? Yeah, you can imagine people in this community are just devastated. Some telling our affiliate that they knew some of the people that worked in that factory and they're still waiting to get confirmation who the victims might be because we do want to note that at this point, officials have not released the identities of the people that were working inside of the time of this explosion. We do have an interview with with person who can sort of really echo the sentiment of what this community is feeling right now. Take a listen. We are such a small tight knit community and it was it was so humbling to see everybody come together, even just neighbors coming together for neighbors. That's where all the Easter candy is made.

And I was born and raised here. So this has been part of our family and all the residents around here for many, many, many years. So what's next? Well, right now, the other things again have transitioned from search and recovery to just clean up the big question. What led to this catastrophe? Guys, big question. Indeed. Just so shocking. George, Elise, thanks so much.

Thanks for watching our YouTube channel. Follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app.

Morning News NOW, Live, nbc news, nbc, news coverage, news, breaking news, us news, world news, politics, nightly news, current events, top stories, pop culture, business, health, lester holt, nbc news now, nbc news live, nbc news streaming, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania chocolate factory, Pennsylvania factory explosion