Reveler who lept into the flames of blazing effigy in front of 70,000 stunned Burning Man festival-goers has DIED
- WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT
- The man who evaded several rangers and security guards to leap into the Burning Man effigy has died
- He was pulled from the burning structure and treated him on scene before he was airlifted to a burn center
- Approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered for the festival in Nevada's Black Rock Dese
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A man rescued from the flames at the Burning Man festival's signature burning of a towering effigy has died after being airlifted to a hospital.
Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said the man ran through a human-chain of security officers at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday during the Man Burn event at the counter-culture festival.
The sheriff said the man was rescued by firefighters and later died at the UC Davis hospital burn center in California.
He has been identified as Aaron Joel Mitchell, 41, who grew up in McAlester, Oklahoma, but was living in Switzerland, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
More than 70,000 people are enjoying the art and music celebration in the Black Rock Desert, about 100 miles north of Reno.
The nine-day event culminates with the burning of a towering 40-foot effigy made of wood. Attendees have tried to run into the flames as a symbol of rebirth.
Festival organizers didn't immediately respond when asked for comment.
The nine-day festival in northern Nevada was briefly hampered when a lightning-sparked wildfire temporarily shut down Burning Man's main travel route last week.
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A Burning Man participant died after evading the attempted tackles of multiple rangers and law enforcement personnel to run into the flames of the 'Man Burn' on Saturday night
Crowds were horrified when the reveler made a beeline for the giant wooden effigy and was engulfed by the flames on Saturday night.
He had to dodge a number of rangers and law enforcement personnel in order to reach the fire, which stretches approximately 50 feet into the air.
Festival organizers earlier issued a statement through its website to say that at 'approximately 10.30pm Saturday evening, a male participant at the annual Burning Man event in Northern Nevada broke through a safety perimeter and into into a fire. Black Rock City fire personnel rescued him from the fire.'
The identity of the man who died from his wounds after running into the flames on Saturday night has not been released by officials
The man who ran into the flames was quickly engulfed as emergency services nobly tried to battle their way through in an attempt to rescue him
Above a firefighter watches as the Burning Man participant (L) falls into the flames of the 'Man Burn' at the festival on Saturday night
Firefighters were forced to abandon their attempted rescue of a Burning Man participant (body seen at lower left rear) who ran into the flames due to dangerous situation
He had to dodge a number of rangers and law enforcement personnel in order to reach the fire, which stretches approximately 50 feet into the air
Emergency personnel tried to treat the man on the scene and then rushed him to a nearby hospital's burns unit where he later passed away
The Man is engulfed in flames as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered for the annual arts and music festival to watch the wooden effigy burn
The Burning Man (pictured before it was set on fire) stretched up to 50ft into the air at the festival this year
Lights shining across the temporary city as thousands of participants gather to watch the Man burn
'The individual was treated on scene, transported to the on-site medical facility and airlifted to a burn center'.
Officials issued an update late on Sunday to confirm that he had later passed away.
During the fiery destruction of the 50-foot-tall man, thousands of participants danced and partied at the annual event, which is held two hours north of Reno on an ancient dry lake bed.
Saturday marked the height of the art and music festival celebration, where Burners had gathered to witness the lighting of the symbolic ritual burning of the huge wooden effigy.
Prior to the burn, The Man towered over the temporary city for a week. The event on Saturday night is traditionally rowdy while the event Sunday night is the subdued burning of the Temple.
The annual event is held in the Nevada desert, where 70,000 people help built and maintain a temporary city, complete with its own airport
The festival 'temporary metropolis' in the desert, for the Burning Man event burning high in the sky
Participants watch The Temple burn as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered
Staff workers form a guard around the enormous structure before the pyre is set alight come nightfall
Revelers dressed in weird and wonderful attire congregate in the desert waiting to see the enormous pyre go up in flames
The Temple is another wooden structure that has been stuffed with notes, memories and remembrances from festival goers throughout the week. It will also be burned Sunday evening.
This year's festival theme is Radical Ritual, with organizers inviting participants to celebrate 'the ambiguous ground that lies between reverence and ridicule, faith and belief, the absurd and the stunningly sublime,' according to the official Burning Man website.
Dozens of art installations were constructed before the end of the weekend, some made from wire, others as patterns on the ground and some as immersive experiences.
Stunning photographs show the larger-than-life art installations that are the focal points of this year's festival theme of Radical Ritual, which is to honor rituals that humankind has made, including the festival.
A chainlink fence surrounds The Temple before its burn - hundreds of festival goers unwind nearby ahead of the fire later in the night
Participants surround a burning art installation as approximately as they enjoy festivities at the Burning Man festival in Nevada
Burning Man festival has ten key principles that undermine its ethos, one of them being 'radical inclusion' and 'respecting the stranger'
Another key principle that underpins the Burning Man ethos are 'decommodification' whereby they ensure the 'social environments are unmediated by commercial sponsorships'
According to the Burning Man website, another key principle, radical self-expression 'arises from the unique gifts of the individual'
The festival also promises to 'leave no trace' of their activities, commenting on the website that they are 'committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather'
Leather clad men dressed as police officers and sailors locked in discussion underneath burning torches and neon lights
A couple hug intimately while watching the impressive lights show surrounded by dancing revellers
Lights from the flames reflect off festival goers stood in the Nevada desert
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