Thousands leave muddy festival site in U.S. Nevada after being plagued by torrential rain

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people were leaving the muddy Burning Man festival site in a remote desert in western U.S. state of Nevada, after they had been plagued in foot-deep mud for days following torrential rain.

The organizers of the festival said the exodus operations officially began Monday afternoon. This year's event, which began on Aug. 27 and was scheduled to run through Monday, has drawn national attention as its exit gates were forced to be closed on Friday after a rare storm which turned the festival site into muddy mess.

Each year, the annual arts and music festival attracts around 70,000 attendees to the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada to create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance.

"The driving ban has been lifted. Please know that while conditions are improving and roads are drying, the playa is still muddy and may be difficult to navigate in some neighborhoods and down certain streets," said the organizers in a statement, urging people to stay on hard-packed roads and out of standing water.

As of midday Monday, about 64,000 people remained on site, according to the statement.

The organizers also urged people to consider delaying their departure from Black Rock City until Tuesday, noting that it would alleviate large amounts of congestion throughout Monday.

A traffic update shared to Burning Man's X account, formerly known as Twitter, said Tuesday morning that the wait time to exit was about "3-4 hours."

"Please be courteous to the flaggers and pulsers who are volunteering their time to make sure everyone departs safely," said the organizers.