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Tesla Cybertruck explodes in front of Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, killing one – 01/01/2025 at 11:40 p.m.

((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))

(Adds FBI comments and updates media label to match images) by David Shepardson and Karen Brettell

A Tesla Cybertruck exploded in flames outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring at least seven others, officials said, and the FBI said it was joining the investigation.

Videos taken by witnesses inside and outside the hotel show the vehicle exploding and flames shooting from it while it was just outside the hotel .

The incident occurred just hours after a man drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revelers in New , killing at least 10 people.

“Obviously a Cybertruck, the Trump Hotel — there are a lot of questions we need to answer,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference.

Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla TSLA.O and adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, said the explosion was not linked to the Cybertruck itself.

“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is not related to the vehicle itself,” said Elon Musk in a post on X. “All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”

Telemetry involves automatically collecting data from remote sources and transmitting it to a central source so that it can be analyzed later.

The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is part of the Trump Organization, President-elect Trump’s company, which will return to the White House on January 20. Mr Musk was a key supporter of Mr Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign and is also an advisor to Mr Trump.

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One person was found dead inside the 2024 model year Cybertruck and seven people were lightly injured by the explosion, McMahill said.

Media reports said the fire was being investigated to determine whether it was an act of terrorism.

The FBI is investigating, Jeremy Schwartz, special agent in charge of the investigation, said at the news conference.

“We have a lot of questions,” Mr. Schwartz said. “We are deploying resources. We will continue to do so until we get to the bottom of this and understand exactly what happened and why

McMahill said the Cybertruck stopped in front of the Trump building at 8:40 a.m. local time. He said police were mindful of the New Orleans attack that occurred earlier Wednesday. The FBI said a potential explosive device was found in the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack.

“As you can imagine, with an explosion here on iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking every precaution to keep our community safe. We are looking for secondary devices,” McMahill said, adding that there appeared to be no other threat to the community.

Las Vegas firefighters responded four minutes after the vehicle fire was reported and extinguished it. Two of the injured people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. The Trump Hotel was evacuated after the incident and most visitors were moved to another hotel.

Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and son of President-elect Trump, posted a message on X about the incident: “Earlier today, an electric vehicle fire was reported in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas,” he wrote.

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