A Tesla Cybertruck caught fire outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, killing the driver and injuring seven people, officials said, and the FBI is investigating whether the explosion was an act of terrorism.
Video taken by witnesses inside and outside the hotel showed the car exploding while it was parked outside the hotel, with flames pouring from inside.
The incident occurred just hours after a man drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revelers in New Orleans, killing 15 people.
The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is part of the Trump Organization, the company of President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to return to the White House on January 20. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a key supporter of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and an adviser to the incoming president.
“Obviously a Cybertruck, the Trump Hotel — we have to answer a lot of questions,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sergeant Kevin McMahill said at an afternoon news conference.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Schwartz later told reporters it was unclear whether the explosion was an act of terrorism.
“I know everyone is interested in the term and trying to see if we can say, ‘Hey, this was a terrorist attack.’ That’s our goal and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Schwartz said.
He added that the FBI has identified the person driving the vehicle, which was rented in Colorado, but is not yet ready to publicly identify the driver.
Musk said the explosion had nothing to do with the Cybertruck itself.
Musk posted on
Telemetry involves automatically collecting data from remote sources and transmitting it back to a central source for later analysis.
McMahill said one person was found dead in the 2024 Cybertruck, and seven others were slightly injured by the explosion. He added that both the Cybertruck and the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack were rented through the car-sharing service Turo.
A Turo spokesman said the company does not believe the renters of the vehicles involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had criminal backgrounds and does not view them as security threats.
“We are actively working with law enforcement to investigate both incidents,” the spokesperson added.
McMahill said the Cybertruck parked in front of Trump Tower at 8:40 a.m. local time (1640 GMT). He said police were concerned about an attack in New Orleans earlier Wednesday. The FBI says a potential explosive device was found in a vehicle used in the New Orleans attacks.
Las Vegas firefighters responded four minutes after receiving reports of a vehicle fire and extinguished it. Two of the injured were sent to hospital with minor injuries. After the incident, the Trump Hotel was evacuated and most of the tourists were moved to another hotel.
Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and son of President-elect Trump, posted about the incident on X. “Earlier today, an electric vehicle fire was reported on Trump’s Las Vegas porch,” he wrote, referring to the building’s covered entrance area.
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