Spark: A burning man story

[Drunk Monk]

Woman at Burning Man struck and killed by bus
Henry K. Lee
Updated 12:17 pm, Thursday, August 28, 2014


In this Monday, Aug. 25, 2014 photo, Burning Man participants bike on the playa during the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nev. Photo: Andy Barron, Associated Press


(08-28) 12:14 PDT BLACK ROCK DESERT, NEV. -- A Wyoming woman died at Burning Man in northern Nevada early Thursday after she was run over by a bus carrying participants, authorities said.

Alicia Louise Cipicchio, 29, of Jackson, Wyo., died after "falling under a large vehicle," organizers said in a statement.

Details of the crash were not immediately released, but Burning Man co-founder Marian Goodell described it as "a terrible accident."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and campmates," Goodell said. "Black Rock rangers and emergency services department staff are providing support to those affected."

The 500 rangers managed by organizer Black Rock City LLC are patrolling the art and entertainment event in addition to 95 federal and local law enforcement officers. Burning Man officials said they were working with the Pershing County sheriff's office in its investigation of the death.

In 2003, Katherine Lampman of Belmont died at the event when she fell from an "art car" and was run over by its wheels. Lampman, 21, was a student at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and an aspiring photographer.

Some 68,000 people are arriving in the Black Rock Desert about 120 miles north of Reno for the annual weeklong event. The gates opened Tuesday after a rainstorm hit the region, closing the festival Monday on its opening day.

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