3 people die during 2026 Burning Man festival

Three Burning Man festivalgoers died during the weeklong psychedelic desert bacchanal that ended Monday, authorities said. A man identified as Sampson Tshombe died Thursday after he was found on a street at the festival and taken to a temporary hospital on festival grounds, the Pershing County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Tuesday. Two days later, a man named Craig Mann was found dead in the trailer he was sharing with his partner. The Sheriff's Office did not provide the causes of death in either case but said it didn't suspect foul play. Mann was 60 years old, the Burning Man Project previously said in a statement. Sheriff Jerry Allen said a third festivalgoer died on the way to a Reno hospital, NBC News reported. The sheriff could not be reached by The Times. Burning Man is an annual gathering held about 120 miles north of Reno in the Nevada desert. It was first held in 1986 and now hosts tens of thousands of people. 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 hours after the festival opened. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.