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Leon Reece: Man who died at Burning Man identified as thousands flee desert after being stranded for days

About 64,000 people had stayed in the Nevada desert to watch the grand finale

BLACK ROCK CITY, NEVADA: The man who died at the Burning Man festival in Nevada on September 1 has been identified as Leon Reece, 32.

Leon Reece was discovered in an unresponsive state around 6.24 pm on September 1, when the festival was grappling with heavy rains. 

What happened at Burning Man? 

The New York Times reports that over the weekend, thousands of Burning Man festival attendees found themselves stranded in the Nevada desert due to heavy rainfall on the night of September 1. 

The downpour forced officials to temporarily close the main road leading in and out of the makeshift town.

Are people getting out of Burning Man?

According to Reuters, Burning Man organizers finally gave the green light to reopen the road leading out of the remote Nevada desert festival on September 4, allowing the tens of thousands of attendees who had been trapped for days by mud to make their way home.

As the road reopened, a seemingly endless line of vehicles wound its way through the desert, creating a monumental traffic jam. 

Event organizers advised drivers to proceed cautiously on Monday, September 4, and even suggested delaying their departure until September 5 to help alleviate traffic congestion.

The exit route consists of a 5-mile dirt road that connects to the nearest highway. 

According to estimates from the Burning Man Traffic account on the social media platform X, the travel time for the "exodus" was approximately 5-1/2 hours.

How many people normally go to the Burning Man?

The annual Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert typically draws over 70,000 attendees.

Traditionally, these festival-goers are cautioned about the dangers of dehydration in the remote desert environment. 

However, this year's festival took a distressing turn when heavy rainfall transformed the temporary city into a quagmire of mud.

Initial reports from investigators indicated that Reece's death did not seem to be directly linked to the adverse weather conditions experienced over the weekend. 

Nevertheless, the stormy weather did hinder the efforts to provide assistance, Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Allen stated, “As usually happens in what burners refer to as the 'default world', people allow their emotions to override their reasonableness and they are lashing out at each other as they leave [...] and attempt to make it to their next destination.”