Surveillance footage has captured the horrifying moment a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas.
A terrifying incident unfolded on Wednesday (January 1) as a Tesla Cybertruck mysteriously detonated outside the luxury hotel in Las Vegas.
The dramatic video, shared on social media, showed the moment the futuristic-looking vehicle suddenly burst into flames, sending shattered glass, metal panels, and other debris flying in all directions.
The electric pickup truck was completely destroyed, leaving behind a fiery wreck and a plume of smoke that engulfed the outside area.
Watch the video below:
According to officials, at least seven witnesses suffered minor injuries in the explosion, while the unnamed driver of the truck, who had pulled into the valet area of the hotel, died.
“A 2024 Cybertruck pulled up to the front of the hotel, and in fact, I can tell you, it pulled right up to the glass entrance doors of the hotel. We saw that smoke start showing from the vehicle, and then a large explosion from the truck,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters, per The New York Post.
Authorities announced that they were still working to get the body out of the car and start processing the evidence inside.
They added that the police knew the identity of the person who rented the vehicle using the Turo app in Colorado but were not releasing the name until investigators determined if it was the same person who died.
“Our number one goal is to ensure that we have the proper identification of the subject involved in this incident,” Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas office, said, cited by The Guardian.
“Following that, our second objective is to determine whether this was an act of terrorism or not,” he added.
The explosion occurred just hours after at least 15 people were tragically killed after a suspect rammed a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans for New Year celebrations.
The bloody rampage is being investigated as a terrorist attack. Law enforcement also believes the driver was not acting alone, per BBC.
President Joe Biden revealed on Wednesday that police are investigating whether there were any links between the New Orleans incident and the Cybertruck explosion.
Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “the whole Tesla senior team” was investigating what happened and “we’ve never seen anything like this”.
The 53-year-old then claimed in a follow-up post: “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.”
He subsequently speculated in another post that the incident was “likely to be a terrorist attack” and questioned whether there was a link with the New Orleans mass killing.
Trump Las Vegas Hotel has expressed gratitude to law enforcement for responding to the explosion.
“Earlier today a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas. The safety & well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority,” the hotel said in a statement.
Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, also spoke out on social media, writing: “The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their swift response and professionalism.”
