One dead and thousands stuck amid heavy rainfall at Burning Man festival

Burning Man organisers have closed vehicular access to the counterculture festival and attendees have been forced to trudge through mud, many barefoot or wearing plastic bags on their feet. The revellers were urged to shelter in place and conserve food, water and other supplies.

The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said the death happened during the event but offered few details as the investigation continued, including the identity of the deceased person or the suspected cause of death, KNSD-TV reported.

Vehicle gates will not open for the remainder of the event, which began on 27 August 27 and was scheduled to end on Monday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the Black Rock Desert where the festival is being held.

More than one-half inch of rain is believed to have fallen on Friday at the festival site, located about 177 kilometres north of Reno, the National Weather Service said. At least another quarter of an inch of rain is expected on Sunday.

The Reno Gazette Journal reported organisers started rationing ice sales and that all vehicle traffic at the sprawling festival grounds had been stopped, leaving portable toilets unable to be serviced.

Officials haven’t yet said when the entrance is expected to be opened again, and it wasn't immediately known when celebrants could leave the grounds.

The announcements came just before the culminating moment for the annual event - when a large wooden effigy was to be burned Saturday night.