Man airlifted to hospital after jumping into the Burning Man fire
The attendee evaded the security perimeter and jumped into the fire
On Saturday evening around 10:30PM, an attendee of Burning Man slipped through safety perimeters and leapt into a fire.
According to an official statement on Burning Man's website, the male attendee was chased and rescued by Black Rock City fire personnel, treated on-site and was later airlifted to a nearby burn treatment center at the University of California - Davis, where he later died. The man has been identified as Aaron Joel Mitchell, a 41-year old man who resided in Switzerland with his wife.
The fire he ran into was the centerpiece of the event, a 50-foot wooden statue in the shape of a man that is burned every year at the end of the week.
Toxicology reports are pending, but according to authorities, Mitchell was not drunk.
A graphic photo of the incident is below. Viewer discretion advised.