A man was found dead in a “pool of blood” at the Burning Man festival Saturday night – just as a massive human-shaped wooden effigy was being torched in the Nevada desert, according to authorities.
The body was discovered around 9 p.m. when a festival goer flagged down a sheriff’s deputy and reported seeing “a male subject lying in a pool of blood,” the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Sunday.
Authorities are now investigating the death as a homicide.
The grisly scene was uncovered while the “Man,” a towering human-shaped wooden sculpture at the center of the festival grounds in Black Rock City was set on fire, the sheriff’s office said.
The man was pronounced dead on the scene, and his body has been taken to the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office, authorities added.
Local deputies, the Bureau of Land Management rangers, and Burning Man’s own Black Rock Rangers created a perimeter around the area and interviewed several festival goers at the scene.
The crime scene will be gated off as authorities continue to investigate, officials said Sunday.
“Although this act appears to be a singular crime, all participants should always be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances,” the sheriff’s office said.