ChinaAutoInfo

On January 2nd, local law enforcement confirmed that a Tesla Cybertruck exploded on New Year's Day outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, resulting in one death and seven minor injuries. Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill announced this at a press conference.

Currently, the FBI has also arrived at the scene. Authorities have evacuated the hotel and are searching for possible "secondary devices" as a precaution. However, McMahill emphasized, "At this point, our community does not face any further threats."

The police stated that at around 8:40 AM Pacific Time, a 2024 Cybertruck drove into the hotel lobby area. "We saw the vehicle start to smoke and then a violent explosion occurred," McMahill told reporters. Firefighters arrived on the scene within four minutes and extinguished the fire within an hour.

An anonymous "insider" revealed to ABC News that the Cybertruck was loaded with a batch of "firework-style mortars," but the official is not yet clear whether the explosion was intentional. Relevant videos show that the explosion indeed had a fireworks-like effect.

Another video shared on social platform X shows the truck engulfed in flames outside the hotel lobby. Multiple witnesses reported hearing at least one explosion.

It is currently unclear what caused the fire. Authorities have no details regarding the identity of the deceased inside the Cybertruck, and are not even certain if they were the driver.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, claimed that the explosion was unrelated to the Cybertruck itself. He posted on platform X that the company had remotely accessed data from the specific Cybertruck to prove that the explosion was not caused by a vehicle malfunction. "We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by large fireworks and/or bombs carried in the rear compartment of the rented Cybertruck, unrelated to the vehicle itself," he wrote. Musk also stated, "Law enforcement currently believes that the explosion is highly likely to be intentional."