Two workers rescued after falling into chocolate vat at Pennsylvania Mars Wrigley factory

Two people were rescued after they fell into a vat of chocolate at the Mars M&M factory in Pennsylvania Thursday, officials said.

More than two dozen emergency first responders were sent to the chocolate factory in Elizabethtown, Pa., after two employees became trapped in a chocolate tank, LancasterOnline reported. First responders from the Elizabethtown Fire Department arrived shortly after 2 p.m. and had to cut a hole in the side of the tank to free the employees.

The factory is owned by Mars Wrigley, the manufacturer of several popular confections including M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, and many more.

Lancaster County 911 Dispatch told the outlet that the two individuals were "not floating around" in the chocolate tank and that rescuers had difficulty getting them out.

According to a report from PennLive, the employees fell into the chocolate tank at around 1:51 p.m. They were not injured, but they could not get out on their own, officials said.

The chocolate vat was reported to be about waist-high. It is unclear how they managed to fall into the tank.

CNN reported that the two employees were transported to a nearby hospital after they were rescued.

"One patient was transported by ground and one person was transported by helicopter," a 911 dispatcher said.

A spokesperson for Mars Wrigley gave the following statement to WPMT-TV: "We can confirm both people have been taken offsite for further evaluation. We’re extremely grateful for the quick work of the first responders."

The incident spawned a number of jokes on social media comparing the accident to a scene from Roald Dahl's famous book, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," where one of the characters, Augustus Gloop, falls into the factory's chocolate river after gluttonously drinking chocolate.

"Two M&M/Mars employees have been rescued from a vat of chocolate," one Twitter user wrote. "Reports say that rescue efforts were hampered by Oompa Loompas who kept getting in the way as they sang moral lessons."

Others joked that drowning in a vat of chocolate wouldn't be so bad.

"If this happens to me, don’t rescue me. This is how I’d wanna go," BlazeTV host Steve Deace tweeted.