Photo Credit: Jeremy Bishop
Three people have now reportedly died at Burning Man in less than a week, with one dying en route to the hospital and another found dead in his camp.
After reports of a death at Burning Man last week, two more individuals have been reported dead over the weekend. Craigh Mann, 60, was found dead in his camp on Saturday, festival organizers said, with no cause of death yet disclosed. Another person died while being taken to the hospital in Reno, officials reported on Monday.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the participant’s family, friends, campmates, and all those affected by this loss,” festival organizers said in an official statement.
Mann was found dead in his trailer, which he was sharing with his partner, when deputies responded. It was the second death reported at the music and art festival in the Nevada desert, after Sampson Tshombe, a man in his mid-50s, died following a medical emergency on Thursday. The causes of both deaths have not been disclosed, but officials ruled out signs of foul play.
“Although we average one death a year at the festival, we have had two so far this year within the confines of the festival, and I have received information regarding a third who died in transit to a hospital in Reno,” said Pershing County Sheriff and Coroner Jerry Allen.
The death en route to the hospital occurred in Washoe County jurisdiction, Allen added. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to media requests for comment.
The Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct autopsies and toxicology screenings for both Tshombe and Mann (and presumably the third individual, although that has not yet been confirmed), with results expected in six to eight weeks, according to Allen.
Last year, a 37-year-old man was found dead in a pool of blood at the festival. In 2024, a 39-year-old woman was found dead just hours after the festival grounds opened.
Burning Man draws around 70,000 attendees each year. The festival is held about 120 miles north of Reno in the Nevada desert and originally debuted in 1986.
