One person was killed and seven others were injured Wednesday after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, local media reported, citing police.
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) — One person was killed and seven others were injured after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, local media reported, citing police.
One person died after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel near the north end of the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday morning, local television station KSNV reported.
A vehicle fire was first reported around 8:40 a.m. local time in the valet area of the hotel. The Cybertruck stopped outside the entrance when smoke began to billow and there was an explosion, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said, adding that a person inside inside the vehicle was killed.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a message posted to X: “We are investigating a vehicle fire at the entrance to Trump Towers. The fire is out. Please avoid the area.”
Authorities confirmed to media that seven people were lightly injured in the explosion and two of them were taken to hospital for treatment.
Most of the people staying at Trump International were moved to a nearby hotel, Resorts World Las Vega, KSNV reported, citing McMahill.
Videos posted on social media show a Tesla Cybertruck in flames in front of the hotel lobby entrance.
-Authorities confirmed they were investigating the explosion.
A source close to the investigation told ABC News that the Cybertruck had a load of fireworks-style mortars on board.
Investigators are urgently working to determine a motive and whether the driver intended to set off an explosion and why, according to the ABC News report, noting that “until a motive is determined and… “other possibilities are ruled out, the police are treating the explosion as a possible criminal act and a potential act of terrorism.”
Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla, reported in a post on X that “the entire Tesla leadership team is currently investigating this matter.”
President-elect Donald Trump’s staunch ally noted that “We’ve never seen anything like this.” He later wrote that “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the trunk of the rented Cybertruck and was not related to the vehicle itself. -even”.
“Earlier today, an electric vehicle fire was reported outside the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas,” according to Eric Trump, the president-elect’s son and a senior executive at the Trump Organization, in a post on X “The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remains our top priority.”
“We warmly thank the Las Vegas firefighters and local law enforcement for their quick response and professionalism,” he added.
