Photo: JULIE JAMMOT/AFP/Getty Images
In several videos shared on social networks, it is observed how the 70,000 attendees of the “Burning Man” festival stranded on Nevada desert sand that turned to “mud and mud” when mixed with rain.
“There are people who have tried to cross it on bicycles and they have gotten stuck”, pointed out one of the festival participants to the US network CNN.
Many of the 70,000 festival-goers walked barefoot or with plastic bags on their feet as storms flooded the Nevada desert, forcing organizers to close vehicular access to the venue.
Gates to vehicles will be closed for the remainder of the event, which began on August 27 and was scheduled to end Monday, according to the US Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the Black Rock Desert where the festival is held.
More than half an inch of rain is believed to have fallen Friday at the festival site, located about 177 kilometers north of Reno, the National Weather Service said, forecasting more rain for Sunday.
In view of the emergency on Saturday, September 2, festival organizers asked attendees to try to take cover somewhere in the temporarily constructed city known as Black Rock City as the rain passed.
The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office reported the death of a festival goer with no name or cause of death known at this time.
“Pershing County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating a death that occurred during this rain. The family has been notified and the death is under investigation. As this death is still under investigation, no further information is available at this time,” according to the sheriff’s office statement quoted by ABC News.
The sand turned to mud
“If you find yourself in Black Rock City (the name of the temporary city that is built every year during the festival), please stay where you are and stay safe,” they said.
According to attendees, the sand has turned to ankle-deep mud. “There are people who have tried to cross it on bicycles and have gotten stuck,” a participant told local television.
The US Weather Service warned that showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue through Saturday afternoon and Sunday.
The Burning Man festival takes place each year on a dry lake in the Nevada desert, where a temporary city is built, accessible via a two-lane highway.
During the event, attendees can participate in a number of arts and community activities. According to the organizers, the festival is guided by a series of principles, including “civil responsibility”, “radical expression” or “leave no trace”, and the use of money is not allowed (although tickets to attend cost hundreds of dollars).
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