Authors: David Shepardson, Karen Brettell and Ronda Churchill
LAS VEGAS (Reuters): A Tesla (NASDAQ:) Cybertruck exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, killing its driver and injuring seven other people. The FBI is investigating whether the explosion was an act of terrorism, officials said.
Videos taken by witnesses inside and outside the hotel showed the vehicle exploding and flames coming from it as it stood 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 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 will return to the White House on January 20. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was a key supporter of Trump in his 2024 presidential campaign and is also an adviser to the future president.
“Obviously the Cybertruck, the Trump hotel – there are a lot of questions we have to answer,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at an afternoon news conference.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Schwartz later told reporters it was not yet clear whether the blast was an act of terrorism.
“I know everyone is interested in this word and trying to see if we can say, ‘Hey, this is a terrorist attack.’ That’s our goal and that’s what we’re trying to achieve,” Schwartz said.
He added that the FBI had identified the person driving the vehicle, which was rented in Colorado, but was not yet ready to publicly identify the driver.
Musk said the explosion was unrelated to the Cybertruck itself.
“We have confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried on the floor of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself,” Musk said in a post on Portal X. “All telemetry data on the vehicle was positive at the time of the explosion.”
Telemetry involves automatically collecting data from remote sources and sending it back to a central source for later analysis.
McMahill said one person was found dead in the 2024 Cybertruck and seven people suffered minor injuries in the explosion. He added that both the Cybertruck and the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack were rented through the Turo car-sharing service.
A Turo spokesman said the company did not believe that any of the tenants of the vehicles involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had criminal histories that would identify them as a security risk.
“We are actively cooperating with law enforcement agencies as they investigate both incidents,” the spokesman added.
McMahill said the Cybertruck pulled up to the Trump building at 8:40 a.m. local time (4:40 p.m. GMT). He said police were mindful of the attack in New Orleans that occurred earlier Wednesday. The FBI said a possible explosive device was found in the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack.
Las Vegas firefighters arrived on scene four minutes after the vehicle fire was reported and extinguished it. Two of the injured people were transported to hospitals with minor injuries. After the incident, the Trump Hotel was evacuated and most of the guests were transferred 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 caught fire at the Trump Las Vegas porte cochère,” he wrote, referring to the building’s covered entrance.
