Mystery white powder found at Rhode Island prison

February 14, 2019 10:31 am

By The Associated Press

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CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) – Two workers at Rhode Island’s state prison have been sent to the hospital after finding what was described as an “undefined white powdery substance.”

A spokesman for the state Department of Corrections says the guards found the substance at about 6 p.m. Wednesday and did not touch it.

They were in a secure area of an intake center at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston.

They were taken to Kent Hospital for evaluation and later released. Richard Ferruccio, the president of the correctional officers union, says the substance was found in a common area accessible to inmates.

Hazardous materials teams were brought in to deal with the substance, which was taken to a state lab for testing.