One man died and several people were injured after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. Authorities are working to identify the deceased driver and determine if it was an act of terrorism.
A Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks and gas canisters exploded outside US President-elect Donald Trump's hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring at least seven others, authorities said.
Videos taken by witnesses inside and outside the hotel showed the vehicle exploding and flames coming out of it, while it was in front of the hotel entrance.
The incident occurred a few hours after A man drove a truck into a crowd on New Year's Day in New Orleans. killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens.
As of Wednesday afternoon, authorities were still working to remove the body from the vehicle and begin processing evidence from inside. The president, Joe Biden, was briefed about the explosion.
“Our primary objective is to ensure that we have proper identification of the subject involved in this incident,” said Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge of the FBI's Las Vegas office, “After that, our second objective is to determine whether this was an act of terrorism or not.”
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and Trump adviser, said the explosion was not related to the Cybertruck itself.
“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the back of the rented Cybertruck and is not related to the vehicle itself,” Musk said in a post on X. “All telemetry of the vehicle was positive at the time of the explosion”.
County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said authorities know who rented the truck through the Turo app in Colorado, but they will not release the name until investigators determine if it is the same person who died.
McMahill said video recorded at Tesla charging stations provided by Musk helped authorities track the journey of the vehicle, which arrived in Las Vegas around 7:30 a.m. About an hour later he drove to the vehicle reception area of the Trump International Hotel, where he stopped 15 to 20 seconds before the explosion occurred.
McMahill said the Cybertruck stopped in front of the Trump building at 8:40 a.m. local time. He noted that the police were aware of the New Orleans attack that occurred early Wednesday. The FBI said a possible explosive device was found in the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack.
“As you can imagine, with an explosion here on the iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking every precaution we need to take to keep our community safe. We are looking for secondary devices,” McMahill said, adding that there did not appear to be any other threats. for the community.
Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and son of the president-elect, posted about the incident on X. “Early today an electric vehicle fire was reported at the front door of the Trump Las Vegas,” he wrote.
Las Vegas firefighters responded four minutes after the vehicle fire was reported and extinguished it. Two of the injured were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. The Trump Hotel was evacuated after the incident and most visitors were transferred to another hotel.
(With information from Reuters and The Associated Press)