Rhode Island Beach Blast: The Last Thing Victim Remembers Before Explosion

A woman injured in an apparent explosion at a Rhode Island beach said the last thing she remembers is relaxing and reading a book.

“We watched a gentlemen get ready to go scuba diving. He was putting on his scuba diving gear and that’s the last thing I remember," Kathleen Danise, 60, of Waterbury, Connecticut, told ABC affiliate WTNH on Sunday.

Danise was at the Salty Brine State Beach in Narragansett on Saturday with her two sisters and niece when she was launched onto rocks during an apparent explosion.

“She was like a human cannon,” Danise’s sister, Laura Demartino, told WTNH.

One beachgoer, Michele Martin, said the injured woman "went five feet up in the air," and, "landed on her face."

"She was in shock, couldn't talk at all," Martin said.

Demartino said her sister was unconscious for three minutes.

Danise was hospitalized with a concussion, two broken ribs and bruises, but was later released.

Officials have not said what caused the explosion, but stressed Saturday that there was no indication of a device or malicious intent.

While several beachgoers said they smelled gas after the explosion, a spokesman for National Grid, which manages gas and electric service in the area, said there are no gas lines along the beach.

Danise has been going to this beach for 30 years, but told WTNH now she won't go back.

For now, Danise plans to "just hopefully get better as soon as possible and get back to work."