Police are investigating the death of a man at the Burning Man festival as tens of thousands of people remain stranded in the desert following heavy rain.
The man is understood to be one of the festivalgoers.
Police said a person died “during this rain event”.
Roads into and out of the event have been closed due to flooding and heavy rainfall.
Organisers estimated Black Rock City, where the festival takes place, saw more than half an inch of rain overnight.
People have not been allowed to drive out of the grounds and are being urged to ration supplies of food and water and take shelter.
It is understood people will not be permitted to leave until the festival was due to end on September 4th.
Social media shows some people have decided to leave on foot.
Burning Man hit by heavy rains, now mud soaked.
People there told to conserve food and water as they shelter in place.
(Video: Josh Keppel) pic.twitter.com/DuBj0Ejtb8— scott budman (@scottbudman) September 2, 2023
More than 60,000 participants travel to and from the remote area in northwest Nevada every year.
The annual celebration of self-expression normally ends in a ceremonial burning of a towering 40-foot effigy, but that part's been cancelled.
Many festivalgoers are frustrated with the conditions they are stuck in.
“It’s clay, you can't walk through it,” one man said. “It's insane how debilitating the mud is”
Another man said you could not drive on the ground due to the mud, even if you tried.
“Normally at Burning Man, there’s a lot of biking but there’s none of that happening because it just sticks to everything,” he said.
“Now, everyone’s just walking around - we're calling it Walking Man.”
Additional reporting by IRN
