The reveler who died at the annual Burning Man festival has been identified as a 32-year-old man, authorities announced Monday, as thousands of stranded festivalgoers battle hours-long traffic jams to escape the muddy grounds of the Black Desert. Rock. .
Leon Reece was found unconscious around 6:24 p.m. Friday as the festival experienced heavy rain, Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said in a statement Monday night.
The cause of his death has not yet been determined and an investigation is underway.
Authorities had previously said Reece’s death did not appear to be weather related, but Allen said stormy conditions delayed efforts to send help.
“Pershing County Dispatch received a call about a male subject who was on the ground unresponsive at the Burning Man Festival and was being administered CPR by medical personnel,” Allen said in his statement.
“Due to the unusual rain that occurred in Playa, access to the area and investigation efforts were delayed.
“Upon the arrival of Pershing County Sheriff’s Office deputies, the male subject, later identified as Leon Reece, a 32-year-old male, had already been pronounced dead by the festival doctor.”
Nearly 70,000 Burning Man attendees were finally allowed to leave Nevada’s Black Rock Desert on Monday.via REUTERS
Traffic hampered desperate attempts by revelers to get out for five hours. BOOMY JENSEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
He said officers interviewed witnesses and medical personnel, but could not immediately determine Reece’s cause of death.
The victim was transported to the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
Allen also used his statement to deny rumors about the spread of Ebola in the camp.
“In consultation with the Bureau of Land Management and the Burning Man Project, there is no validity to any report of an outbreak of Ebola or any other disease,” it said in a statement.
Burning Man attendees were stuck in camp for days after a storm that generated thick mud.via REUTERS
Doctors had warned attendees to take care of their health as they remained trapped in the muddy desert for days. via REUTERS
Doctors had warned attendees to take care of their health while trapped in the muddy desert for days.
Standing water, porta-potties and cold weather put festivalgoers at risk of hypothermia, foodborne illness and COVID-19, medical professionals told Business Insider.
Revelers were also urged to conserve food and water amid the flood conditions.
But they were finally able to leave Black Rock City on Monday afternoon, when local officials lifted the travel ban.
Festival goers got stuck in an epic traffic jam on the 5 mile dirt road to the nearest freeway.
The Burning Man traffic account on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) estimated the exodus’ travel time at 6 hours early Tuesday morning, as organizers urged people to delay their departure until later on Tuesday.
The area where the annual festival takes place is known as La Playa.via REUTERS
An aerial view of the annual event in the Black Rock Desert. Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Tech/AFP via Getty Images
Attendees were also asked not to leave the Black Rock Desert like others, including comedian Chris Rock and DJ Diplo, did over the weekend.
The couple had apparently walked six miles on Saturday through the mud before hitchhiking in the back of a fan’s van, according to a video posted to Instagram by Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz.
But some revelers still abandoned their vehicles and personal property in a desperate attempt to get out of the desert as quickly as possible, Allen told the San Francisco Chronicle, as he criticized frustrated and “angry” attendees.
Some revelers who were desperate to get out abandoned their vehicles and personal belongings. AFP via Getty Images
He said they were “showing no compassion towards their fellow men who have endured the same problems in recent days” as they tried to leave the desert on Monday night.
“As often happens in what the Burners call the ‘default world,’ people allow their emotions to take precedence over their reasonableness and turn on each other as they leave the Beach and try to get to their next destination,” Allen told the Chronicle.
“This behavior definitely does not fall within the 10 Burning Man principles, but that is not the fault of [the Burning Man Project] neither, but it is a social issue.”
Those Burning Man organizers are ultimately responsible for cleaning up Playa (the name given to the festival site) as well as the roads in and out, Allen said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn