Five burn injuries from a boat fire on the Charles River last Thursday, Sept. 6, appear to have been caused by sodium, said Jake Wark, spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Local media sources reported that the substance may have come from a sodium drop, a traditional MIT activity in which sodium is thrown into the Charles River so that students can watch its violent reaction with water.

Five burn injuries from a boat fire on the Charles River Thursday appear to have been caused by sodium, said Jake Wark, spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Local media sources reported that the sodium may have come from Sodium Drop, an MIT tradition in which sodium is thrown into the Charles River so that students can watch its violent reaction with the water.

A body that washed to shore on Cape Cod last Thursday was identified as MIT student Daniel J. Barclay '07, who had been missing since Sunday, April 8. Barclay was declared a missing person Friday, Apr. 13 and had been the focus of an area-wide search.