Burning Man festival attendee’s suspected cause of death revealed – live

Jump to content Sign up to our newsletters Subscribe News Sport Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium Close Burning Man festival-goer shows grim conditions after flooding chaos Officials have revealed the suspected cause of death for the man who died at Burning Man as the festival descended into chaos with heavy rainfall, flooding and muddy conditions. The man, identified as 32-year-old Leon Reece, was found unresponsive on the playa on Friday with emergency responders unable to revive him. The exact cause of Reece’s death is still pending but the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a statement on Tuesday that drug intoxication was suspected. Attendees finally began leaving the city at Black Rock City on Monday afternoon after the extreme weather subsided and organisers reopened the route to vehicles. Tempers frayed during the exodus with Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen saying that attendees ‘lashed out’ at each other as they waited to leave the desert. While Exodus wait times reached as much as seven hours, by Wednesday morning they were down to just 20 minutes, according to the latest social media post from the festival. Officials also debunked a conspiracy theory that the festival was hit with an Ebola outbreak. 1694055653 Chris Rock and Diplo have shared their experience of escaping Burning Man festival , with some 73,000 attendees stranded in the desert following heavy downpours in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Diplo shared a video of the pair fleeing the chaos to Twitter/X, writing in the caption: ‘Just walked five miles in the mud out of Burning Man with Chris Rock and a fan picked us up.’ Ariana Baio 7 September 2023 04:00 1694048453 Burning Man revellers built mud sculptures and waded through the dirt as partying continued despite chaos leaving thousands stranded at the Nevada desert festival after severe flooding. One person has died during the event, but local law enforcement are yet to identify the individual and reveal the suspected cause of death. Tens of thousands of attendees remain stranded at the site in the Black Rock desert after the extreme weather. Revellers were left to trudge through mud, many barefoot or wearing plastic bags on their feet, after being urged to shelter in place and conserve food, water and other supplies over the weekend. Ariana Baio 7 September 2023 02:00 1694041253 Burning Man festivalgoers are voicing their distress after the Black Rock City, Nevada, venue was hit with torrential rains during Tropical Storm Hilary this week. Pictures and videos of the flooded playa have been circulating on social media, with organisers asking attendees to ‘please be patient’. ‘It’s not something we typically see,’ Justin Collins, a forecaster with the weather service’s Reno office, told SFGATE.com . ‘All this rain all at once is pretty unusual in summer. You see it in winter more.’ ‘The desert doesn’t absorb. It’s like a pool being drained onto a tile floor,’ one person commented on social media Ariana Baio 7 September 2023 00:00 1694037653 Oliver Anthony, the country artist behind the viral hit ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’, is apparently among those stranded at Burning Man festival in Nevada. The annual arts festival has been plunged into chaos after rare, severe rains flooded the Black Rock Desert, leaving behind thick mud, which has grounded vehicles. More than 70,000 ‘Burners’, as the festival’s attendees are referred to, were urged to hunker down and conserve supplies. Anthony, 31, was scheduled to be interviewed by the socialist political journal Midwestern Marx on Sunday (3 September); however, in a live stream, its presenters said the singer was ‘trapped’ at Burning Man. ‘Our man Oliver Anthony has been trapped in the flooding at Burning Man, this is what he told us over email,’ one of the show’s three hosts explained. Ariana Baio 6 September 2023 23:00 1694034000 In a statement provided to The Independent, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed there are no reports of Ebola at Burning Man. ‘CDC has not received any reports of Ebola at the Burning Man Festival and has not issued any warnings or had any requests for assistance from the state and local health departments either,’ a spokesperson for the CDC said. ‘Additionally, we have not received reports of Mpox or Marburg, and to our knowledge a national emergency for the flooding has not been declared.’ Ariana Baio 6 September 2023 22:00 1694030453 Ariana Baio 6 September 2023 21:00 1694026853 The infamous gathering (it’s most definitely not a festival) just finished for another year – but what’s it actually like to pitch up for the full nine days? The infamous gathering (it’s most definitely not a festival) just finished for another year – but what’s it actually like to pitch up for the full nine days? Ariana Baio 6 September 2023 20:00 1694023200 Cindy Crawford, Austin Butler and Kaia Gerber also escaped Burning Man as the festival became a washout. Diplo and Chris Rock shared online over the weekend that they had walked miles to leave the site as it was hit with heavy rainfall. In an interview with CNN, Diplo revealed that they were joined by more celebrities: ‘[Rock] had his New York Knicks jacket on and he just got up with us and started walking. And we walked about three hours in the mud. He was happy. It was me, I think Cindy Crawford walked with us. ‘Kaia Gerber, Austin Butler, Randy Gerber, a writer, a couple of producers from TV, a couple of people who just wanted to get home to their children. They didn’t take no for an answer.’ Ariana Baio 6 September 2023 19:00 1694019600 Who would have thought a small, yet peculiar creature could stir up such a scene in the Nevada Desert? After heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hilary turned a dry desert into a mud pit, revellers at the Burning Man Festival were left trapped on site. These curious critters were awoken in the Nevada desert after intense flooding upended Burning Man 2023. Here’s what you need to know about them Ariana Baio 6 September 2023 18:00 1694016000 Vehicles line up to leave the Burning Man festival in Black Rock Desert, Nev., Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023 People leave the Burning Man festival on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023 in Reno, Nevada Vehicles line up to leave the Burning Man festival in Black Rock Desert, Nev., Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. Ariana Baio 6 September 2023 17:00 Nevada flooding Burning Man Vehicles line up to leave the Burning Man festival in Black Rock Desert AP Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in