Man dies after running into flaming effigy at Burning Man festival

A man who tried to run through the Burning Man festival's towering effigy died Sunday, Fox News reported.

Aaron Joel Mitchell, 41, ran into the fire at around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, festival organizers said. Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said the man ran through a human chain of security officers and into the fire.

Black Rock City firefighters rescued Mitchell, who was airlifted to a burn treatment center in Sacramento, California, CNN reported.

Mitchell was a U.S. citizen who lived in Switzerland with his wife, CNN reported.

In a statement on the company website, festival organizers said they were working to make resources available to people who witnessed the incident.

“We’re aware this incident has affected not only those who responded immediately on the scene, but also those who witnessed it, and our Black Rock City community more broadly,” the statement read.

The nine-day festival attracts more than 100,000 people annually to the Black Rock Desert, located 120 miles north of Reno, Nevada. It is scheduled to end on Monday.

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Bob D’Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

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