Cybertruck explodes outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas, killing one
AT LEAST one person was killed and seven wounded when a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a hotel belonging to US President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas, police said on Wednesday.
The electric vehicle pulled up to the Trump International Hotel’s glass entrance before a “large explosion,” Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters.
Video footage shows the stainless steel truck parked at the hotel entrance before bursting into flames, followed by smaller explosions that appeared similar to fireworks.
McMahill said there was “one deceased individual inside the Cybertruck” while seven people received “minor” injuries.
“The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now,” CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X, adding: “We’ve never seen anything like this.”
Musk, who backed Trump in the November election and was named by the Republican to head up a commission to trim government spending, said he would post more information “as soon as we learn anything.”
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President Joe Biden was briefed on the explosion and directed his team to offer any federal assistance needed, the White House said.
He was earlier briefed on a car-ramming attack in New Orleans that left at least 10 people dead on Wednesday.
McMahill referenced that attack but did not explicitly link the two incidents, saying that authorities in Las Vegas were “taking all of the precautions that we need to keep our community safe.”
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News reports said the fire was being investigated as a possible terrorist act.
The FBI is investigating, special agent in charge Jeremy Schwartz told the press conference.
“We’ve got a lot of questions,” Schwartz said. “We’re deploying resources. We will continue to do that until we get to the end of this and figure out exactly what happened and why.”
McMahill said the Cybertruck pulled up to the Trump building at 8.40 am local time. He said police were mindful of the New Orleans attack that occurred earlier on Wednesday. The FBI said a potential explosive device was found in the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack.
“As you can imagine, with an explosion here on iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking all the precautions that we need to take to keep our community safe. We’re looking for secondary devices,” McMahill said, adding that there did not appear to be any further threat to the community.
Las Vegas firefighters responded four minutes after the vehicle fire was reported and extinguished it. Two of the injured people were transported to hospitals with minor injuries.
The Trump Hotel was evacuated after the incident and most of the visitors were moved to another hotel.
Eric Trump, executive vice-president of the Trump Organization and a son of President-elect Trump, posted about the incident on X. “Earlier today, a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas,” he wrote. AFP, REUTERS
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