Officials say a Tesla Cybertruck caught fire outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on Jan. 1, 2025. One person was found dead in the 2024 Cybertruck and seven others were slightly injured in the explosion. Firefighters arrived about four minutes after the blaze broke out, as most guests evacuated the luxury hotel.
The FBI is investigating whether the explosion was an act of terrorism.
The incident came hours after a man drove a car into a crowd celebrating New Year’s Eve in New Orleans, killing 15 people. U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that law enforcement is investigating whether there is a connection between the attack and the Tesla Cybertruck explosion.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a key Trump supporter and a potential adviser to the new president, has insisted that the explosion is not related to the Cybertruck itself. Elon Musk confirmed on social media that the explosion was caused by a large missile and/or a bomb inside a rented Cybertruck and was not related to the vehicle itself. The vehicle is equipped with advanced equipment that automatically collects data from remote sources and sends it back to a central source so that it can be analyzed later.
It has been confirmed that both the Cybertruck and the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack were rented through the same Turo service.
It is also worth noting that the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas is part of the Trump Organization, the company of US President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn in on January 20, 2025.
