A Burning Man attendee died while being taken to hospital, officials said Monday, marking the third reported death at this year’s Burning Man art and music festival in the Nevada desert.
The attendee was en route to a hospital in Reno when they died, the Pershing County Sheriff’s office confirmed to NBC News, the Reno Gazette Journal and People.
“Although we average one death a year at the festival, we have had two so far this year within the confines of the festival and I have received information regarding a third who died in transit to a hospital in Reno,” Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen told the Reno Gazette Journal.
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OSHEAGA Music and Arts Festival
Burning Man officials also confirmed the death of two festivalgoers during the festival’s 40th year celebration in statements posted to the official website.
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“It is with heavy hearts that Burning Man Project confirms a Black Rock City participant in his mid-50s experienced a medical emergency, immediately received lifesaving measures, and was transported to the onsite center for emergency care where he was pronounced deceased,” Burning Man officials said on Sept. 4.
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“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the participant’s family, friends, and those affected by this loss. The participant’s name will not be released until his family has been notified,” the festival added.
In another statement, shared on Sept. 5, Burning Man officials said they were “saddened to share that a second Black Rock City participant, Craigh Mann, a 60 year-old man, was found deceased by campmates in his camp on Saturday, September 5, at approximately 3 PM.”
Global News has reached out to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office for further comment, but has not received a response.
The annual gathering in the Black Rock Desert, which began on Aug. 30 and officially ended on Sept. 7, attracts tens of thousands of artists, musicians and activists each year for a mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances, highlighted by the burning of a large wooden effigy of a man.
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During last year’s festival, a man was found dead “lying in a pool of blood,” which prompted a homicide investigation, authorities said.
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Deputies, along with rangers from the Bureau of Land Management, responded and “found a single white adult male lying on the ground, obviously deceased,” the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement at the time.
The body was reported as the “Man” — a wooden sculpture shaped like a man — was beginning to burn.
Several participants at the festival were interviewed as part of the investigation into the death. The body was found in a makeshift encampment called Black Rock City, and authorities created a perimeter around the area.
The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said it appeared to be a singular crime but urged everyone who attended the festival to be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances.
A little more than a year after the incident, no arrests have been more in the case.
— With files from The Associated Press