One person died and seven others were injured on Wednesday when a Tesla Cybertruck that appeared to be carrying fireworks caught fire and exploded outside US presidential Donald Trump's hotel in Las Vegas, authorities said.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Clark County Fire Department officials said at a press conference that a person inside the future pickup truck died and that they were working to extricate the body. Seven people nearby were injured and several were taken to hospital.
The fire was reported in the valet area of the Trump International Las Vegas Hotel at 8:40 a.m., a county spokesman said in a statement.
According to a law enforcement official, the truck was rented through the Turo app and appeared to have a lot of fireworks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
A Turo spokesman did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Tesla is investigating, Musk says
Law enforcement officials have not ruled out terrorism as a possible motive, said a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation.
“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 drove into a crowd in the French Quarter in New Orleans early on New Year's Day, killing at least 10 people. The suspect was killed in a shootout with the police.
“The entire Tesla senior team is currently investigating this matter,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in a statement on X, his social media platform. “We have never seen anything like this.”
The witness heard 3 explosions
In Las Vegas, the witness, Ana Bruce, visiting from Brazil, said she heard three explosions.
“The first one was where we saw the fire, the second one was, I think, the battery or something like that, and the third one was the big one that was smoking the whole area and b that was the time when everyone was asked to evacuate and stay away. ” Bruce said.
Her traveling companion, Alcides Antunes, showed a video he took of flames hitting the sides of the silver vehicle.
The 64-story hotel is just off the Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Las Vegas Fashion Show shopping mall.
Eric Trump, son of the president-elect and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, posted about the fire on X, praising the fire department and local law enforcement “for their quick response.” and their professionalism. “
