A woman died on the first day of the 2024 Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada over the weekend, local authorities and the event's organizers have confirmed. It is the latest in more than a half-dozen deaths that have occurred at the event in the past three decades.
According to a press release posted by the Burning Man Project, emergency services personnel responded to a report of an unresponsive individual at 11:29 a.m. on Sunday. Life saving measures were enacted immediately upon responders arriving to the scene, but were ultimately unsuccessful.
The victim's name and age have not been released until next of kin can be notified, though NBC News confirmed that it was a female participant who died. The death is currently under investigation to determine the cause and manner of death, pending autopsy results.
"It is with heavy hearts that Burning Man Project confirms the death of a participant in Black Rock City in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert," the organization said in a statement. "Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this loss. The participant has been identified by the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office."
The event has offered 24-hour peer support services to festival participants, and likewise noted that Black Rock City’s Emergency Services Department’s Crisis Support team would also be available round the clock.
Burning Man is an annual, week-long event that takes place in Black Rock City, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert, focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance."
The Reno Gazette Journal reports that seven people have died at Burning Man since the event relocated to the region about 100 miles north of Reno in 1990; with the first death occurring in 1996 and the most recent at last year's 2023 festival.
