Mystery Explosion in Rhode Island

Things are certainly heating up in H.P. Lovecraft country....

Here are the first few paragraphs of Patrick Anderson and Katherine Gregg's 7-11-15 Providence Journal article entitled "No Clues:  Salty Brine Beach Reopens Sunday After Explosion":

"Salty Brine State Beach reopened to the public Sunday despite no word from investigators into what might have caused an explosion that injured a woman Saturday.  

"The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management announced late Saturday night that the beach would reopen after investigators from that agency, the Rhode Island State Police Bomb Squad and the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal's Office finished combing the sand for signs of what caused a 50-year-old woman to be thrown from her beach chair. 

"No evidence of an explosive device was found and officials declared the beach safe.

'The on-site investigation is now complete, and there is no reason to believe there are any public safety concerns related to today's incident,' said Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Director Janet Coit in a news release. 

"The off-site investigation into what caused the explosion is now being conducted by the Fire Marshal's office, said DEM spokeswoman Rayna Maguire Sunday morning.

"The popular beach was evacuated Saturday after a 'ground disturbance' — accompanied by a loud boom — stunned beachgoers and landed a woman in the hospital.

"At around 11:20 a.m., the state bomb squad was called in to investigate the reports of a possible 'explosion' near the rocks at the beach. 

"By late afternoon, however, investigators had no explanation for the boom that rocked the popular beach on a glimmering summer day. Officials were still combing the rock breakwater in the evening. Terrorism was not suspected and there was no active search for a suspect, officials said.

"'Something did happen but we are not sure ... exactly what,' said Larry Mouradjian, the DEM’s associate director for natural resources, in an interview shortly after 3 p.m."

You can read the entire article by clicking HERE.

Further news reports on the mysterious Rhode Island explosion can be found HERE and HERE.