One dead after a Tesla Cyber ​​truck exploded and caught fire outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas

One person was killed and seven others were injured on Wednesday when a Tesla Cybertruck, which appeared to be carrying fireworks, caught fire and exploded outside US President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas, authorities said.

Las Vegas police and Clark County Fire Department officials said in a news conference that a person had died inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck, and they were working to remove the body. Seven people nearby suffered minor injuries and several were taken to hospital.

The fire was reported in the valet parking area of ​​the Trump International Las Vegas Hotel at 8:40 a.m., a county spokesperson said in a statement.

According to a law enforcement official, the truck was rented through the Turo app and appeared to contain a large amount of fireworks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

A Turo spokesperson did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Musk says Tesla is investigating

A person familiar with the matter said law enforcement officials had not ruled out terrorism as a possible motive. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly.

“I know you have a lot of questions,” Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas office, told reporters. “We don’t have a lot of answers.”

President Joe Biden was briefed on the explosion, which came hours later A truck driver crashed into a crowd of people in the French Quarter of New Orleans early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 10 people. The suspect was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police.

“The entire Tesla team is currently investigating this matter,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in a statement on his X social media platform. “We’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Witnesses heard three explosions

In Las Vegas, witness Anna Bruce, coming from Brazil, said she heard three explosions.

“The first one is where we saw the fire, the second one, I think, was the battery or something like that, and the third one was the big one that smoked the whole area and it was the moment where everyone was told to evacuate and stay away,” Bruce said.

Her travel companion, Alcides Antunes, showed a video he took of the flames touching the sides of the silver-colored car.

The 64-story hotel is located directly off the Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Fashion Show Las Vegas mall.

Eric Trump, the president-elect’s son and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, posted about the fire at X, praising the fire department and local law enforcement for their “quick response and professionalism.”