Police are investigating the death of a woman that occurred on the first day of the infamous Burning Man festival.
Emergency personnel responded to a call about a woman who was found unresponsive around noon on Sunday (August 25) at the festival site, the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said.
Situated 100 miles into the Nevada desert Burning Man is an iconic gathering, last year attended by 73,000 festival goers. The Burning Man Project’s emergency services were unsuccessful in saving the woman’s life.
READ MORE: Iconic drug-fuelled Burning Man festival on verge of collapse after ‘mud horror’
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(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“It is with heavy hearts that Burning Man Project confirms the death of a participant in Black Rock City in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this loss,” said festival organisers in a statement. “We are cooperating fully with local authorities as they investigate this incident.”
Pershing County Sherriff Jerry Allen said: “The name of the participant is being withheld at this time, until the decedent’s next of kin can be notified. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the decedent.
“This is the first reported death on the playa this year and unfortunately it has happened on day one.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Festival organisers identified the woman as 39-year-old Kendra Frazer, whose death came only hours after the week-long festival had kicked off. According to reports, an estimated 20,000 people were already on the playa before the gates were officially opened to all ticket-holders.
At last year’s festival, a 32-year-old California man died from suspected drug intoxication after being found unresponsive on the grounds. Since the festival moved from Baker Beach in San Francisco to Nevada’s Black Rock desert in 1990, there have been about half-dozen other deaths.
The muddy weather that stopped festival goers from entering on Sunday was a reminder of the awful conditions of last year.
(Image: Getty Images)
Organisers of the iconic annual event had to shut the gates to stop everyone from leaving after an unexpected weather system took hold, with revellers told to conserve their food and water.
Thousands who were trapped were forced to live in squalid conditions in mud, with fears of the return of First World War disease Trench Foot spreading on social media.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
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