A Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks and canisters of gas was detonated outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas New Year’s Day. The FBI is now investigating the explosion, which killed one person and injured seven more.
The angular EV was reportedly rented via Turo in Colorado before being filled with fireworks and canisters of gas usually used for camping, reports the Guardian. The truck was then parked up outside an entrance to president-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas, where it was detonated:
“This is a Tesla truck, and we know that Elon Musk is working with president-elect Trump, and it’s the Trump Tower,” police department sheriff Kevin McMahill said when reporters asked about possible political connections.
McMahill said that authorities knew the identity of the person who rented the truck using the Turo app in Colorado, but were not releasing the name until investigators determine if it was the same person who died.
Video presented at an afternoon news conference showed a tumble of charred fireworks mortars, canisters and other explosive devices crowded into the back of the pickup. The truck bed walls were still intact because the blast shot straight up rather than to the sides.
Footage from a Tesla charging station helped trace the truck’s journey to Las Vegas, the site adds. The driver reportedly arrived in the city at around 7:30 a.m. yesterday morning, before driving to the valet area at Trump International at around 8:40 a.m.. The electric truck sat outside the hotel entrance for “15 to 20 seconds before the explosion,” the Guardian adds.
Firefighters arrived on the scene around four minutes after the Cybertruck exploded and extinguished the fire. Seven people sustained minor injuries as a result of the blast and two were transported to hospital for treatment. The identity of the person killed in the explosion has not yet been shared by authorities looking into the incident.
Tesla boss Elon Musk did as he always does when his company is in the news and took to Twitter X to share his thoughts on the explosions. He said the blast was “unrelated” to the Cybertruck and was instead “caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck.”
The explosion occurred just hours after another vehicle rented on Turo was driven into crowds of revelers in New Orleans, adds Reuters. The rental service is reportedly cooperating with investigators looking into both incidents:
A Turo spokesperson said the company did not believe either of the renters of the vehicles involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat.
“We are actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents,” the spokesperson added.
The Trump International Hotel was evacuated after the explosion and most of its visitors were moved to another Las Vegas hotel.
The c explosion in Las Vegas seems to have been caused fireworks and gas canisters inside the Cybertruck. However, the Tesla pickup truck had several fire issues of its own in the last year, with one of the EVs hitting a fire hydrant and bursting into flames.
