Three Men Died at Burning Man Festival from Heart Disease; Two Had Drugs in System
Medical examiner rules heart disease as cause of death for all three men, with drug toxicity contributing to two of the deaths.
Three men who died at this year's Burning Man festival in Nevada succumbed to heart disease, according to a medical examiner's report. Two of the men also had drugs in their systems at the time of their deaths.
Tshombe Sampson, 62, died at the scene after collapsing at the festival. His cause of death was determined to be hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Sampson, from Santa Monica, California, was known for offering free legal services to festival attendees.
Armando Ramirez, 51, of Truckee, California, experienced severe chest pains and died en route to the hospital in an ambulance. The medical examiner ruled his death an accidental combination of methamphetamine and MDMA toxicity, diabetes, and heart disease. Long-term methamphetamine use was also cited as a contributing factor.
The third man, Craig Mann, 60, of Yuma, Arizona, was found unresponsive in his trailer. His death was also ruled accidental, with cocaine and methamphetamine toxicity and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease contributing factors.
Friends and family remembered Mann, who died at the festival with his partner Anya. His partner posted tributes on social media following his death.
Burning Man has averaged about one death per year. In a separate incident in September, Vadim Kruglov, 37, was found stabbed to death near his camp, a case that remains under investigation. Kruglov's father has called for justice in his son's unsolved death. Kruglov had been known for the art he created at the festival.