A third person has died in connection with this year's Burning Man as the 2026 event came to a close.
Pershing County Sheriff Coroner Jerry Allen said Monday, Sept. 7, that two people died within the confines of Black Rock City and that he had received information about a third person who died while being transported to a hospital in Reno.
Burning Man attendee dies as rain closes festival gates in Nevada
Burning Man reports a second death as the 2026 event nears its end
Allen said he will not have additional information about the two deaths inside the festival until autopsy reports, including toxicology results, are completed. He said those reports are expected in about six to eight weeks. Because that death occurred outside Pershing County, Allen said investigators there will need to be contacted for additional information.
The first death occurred Thursday, Sept. 3.
According to the sheriff's office, deputies were notified shortly after 6:30 p.m. of a possible death at Rampart, Burning Man's temporary hospital. The man was identified as Sampson Tshombe.
Investigators determined Tshombe had been found unresponsive on a street inside the festival and that emergency personnel performed CPR for several minutes before an on-site doctor pronounced him dead.
Allen said there were no outward signs of foul play. Because Tshombe's medical history was not available, his body was sent to the Washoe County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy and toxicology screening.
A second participant, Craig Mann, 60, was found deceased in his camp at about 3 p.m. Saturday, Burning Man Project said.
Deputies were told Mann had been found dead in a trailer he shared with his significant other. Authorities found no outward signs of foul play and sent his body to the Washoe County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy and toxicology testing.
The sheriff said Monday that the number of deaths was unusual for the festival, which he said averages about one death a year.
The deaths came during a particularly turbulent Burning Man, with rain, mud, dust and wind disrupting the temporary desert city during its final days.
Rain temporarily closed the festival's entrance and exit Friday, leaving some would-be attendees in Reno and prompting organizers to tell people not to drive onto the playa until conditions improved. The weather also shut down the event's airport for a time.
DJ Diplo, who had performed at the festival, later documented that he walked about 6 miles through muddy conditions to reach a road after the weather disrupted travel.
The festival also recorded a number of other incidents this year.
An attendee was injured Tuesday after falling from the 55-foot Nest Tower at the Square One camp and was taken to Rampart for medical treatment.
As of Friday morning, 34 people had been arrested for drug sales or trafficking at Burning Man, according to Allen.
Organizers also evicted a Christian missionary camp after saying members repeatedly violated privacy and consent rules. Members of the camp disputed that explanation.
The 2026 festival officially ended at 6 p.m. Monday, according to Burning Man. The exodus from Black Rock City, however, continues after the official close, with organizers warning that traffic out of the remote desert can take hours.
The three deaths come one year after the killing of Vadim Kruglov, 37, who was found fatally stabbed inside a tent at Burning Man on Aug. 30, 2025. His death remains under investigation.
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This article originally published at Burning Man reports third death as event comes to a close.