A 39-year-old woman has died on the opening day of Burning Man, a popular annual counterculture festival in the Nevada desert, authorities said.
The woman, Kendra Fraser, was found unconscious at the festival site about 11:30 a.m. Sunday and attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful, Burning Man organizers said. It said in a statement.
Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said her cause of death remains under investigation pending the results of an autopsy and toxicology tests. A statement shared on Facebook.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Kendra’s family and friends,” Allen said.
The fatal accident occurred before the event’s official start, but festival organisers confirmed that the event was due to begin at 6pm. Attendees were allowed into the festival at midnight on Sunday.
“The Burning Man Project is heartbroken to announce the death of a participant in Black Rock City in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada,” festival organizers said in a statement. “We understand this news is difficult for many in our community.”
Burning Man is a nine-day community- and arts-focused festival that culminates with the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy. The event takes place in Black Rock City, a makeshift town built in the Black Rock Desert of northwestern Nevada.
The festival kicked off early on Sunday after gates were closed for 12 hours due to inclement weather. The Guardian reported..
According to The Guardian, around 20,000 festival-goers gathered on the playa before the gates opened, and organisers expect more than 70,000 to attend the nine-day event.
Over the past few years, Burning Man has seen the deaths of festival-goers.
Leon Reese, a 32-year-old man from California, was found unconscious at the festival last year and died, with authorities saying the cause of death was likely drug-related.
In 2017, Aaron Joel Mitchell, a 41-year-old from Oklahoma, died after jumping into a giant, burning doll.
Every summer, tens of thousands of people, including celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Heidi Klum and Cindy Crawford, flock to the Nevada desert for the festival.
The event was famously canceled last year after a rainstorm left thousands of festival-goers, including several celebrities, trapped in mud.
Chris Rock and DJ Diplo Walked 6 miles As he was wandering through the mud, a fan offered him a ride in his truck.
