A second man has died at Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, just hours after another attendee was found dead, bringing renewed scrutiny to the popular counterculture event. Craigh Mann, 60, was found dead in his camp on Saturday afternoon, with no cause of death released, while a man in his 50s was discovered unresponsive on Thursday evening and could not be revived by first responders. Authorities have found no indication the two deaths are linked, and an autopsy is pending in the first case, with police saying foul play is not currently suspected.

Both deaths occurred before the festival's traditional closing-night temple burn, and heavy rainfall on Friday turned the desert site to mud, prompting organisers to close the gates as a precaution and ask new arrivals to delay travel. The tragedies follow last year's first-ever homicide at the event, in which a Russian attendee was fatally stabbed with no arrests made since. Census data cited in the article shows Burning Man's attendee base is ageing, with those in their 40s and 50s now outnumbering those in their 20s, as the event continues to grapple with negative publicity following the 2023 incident in which 70,000 attendees were trapped in mud after severe rainfall.