One dead as Tesla truck catches fire outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas police news

Authorities say they are investigating the incident, which left seven people with minor injuries.

One person was killed and seven were injured when a Tesla Cybertruck caught fire and exploded outside a Las Vegas hotel partly owned by United States President-elect Donald Trump.

The fire broke out in the valet area of ​​the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas around 8:40 a.m. local time (14:40 GMT) on Wednesday, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Clark County officials.

“We were told that a 2024 Cybertruck pulled up to the front of the hotel. And in fact, I can tell you, it reached the glass entrance of the hotel,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference. “We saw smoke start coming out of the vehicle and then a big explosion came from the truck.”

Details are still emerging, and the cause of the explosion has not yet been confirmed by officials.

“I know you have a lot of questions,” Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), told reporters. “We don’t have a lot of answers.”

Officials said it appeared the truck was carrying fireworks and a person was found dead inside the vehicle. Several people in the vicinity of the explosion suffered minor injuries and were treated.

Anna Bruce, a witness, told the Associated Press news agency that she heard three explosions caused by the fire.

“It was the first time where we saw a fire,” Bruce said. “The second one, I think, was a battery or something like that, and the third one was a big one that smoked the whole area and that was the moment everyone was told to evacuate and stay away.”

The incident came hours after a car crash in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, that killed at least 10 people, which authorities are investigating as a possible terrorist act.

It is believed that the suspect in that case was carrying an improvised explosive device, or IED, in his truck at the time of the car collision.

Sheriff McMahill acknowledged that his officers were “well aware of what happened in New Orleans” and that the incident could inform their investigation. But he avoided connecting the two.

“As you can imagine, with an explosion here on iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking every precaution to keep our community safe. We’re looking for secondary devices,” McMahill said at the news conference, adding that there does not appear to be any further threat to the community.

The Cybertruck explosion comes as Trump prepares to take office for a second term on January 20.

His incoming administration includes close advisers such as tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom Trump has chosen to co-lead a yet-to-be-established, non-government body called the Department of Government Efficiency.

Trump has billed the new entity as an advisory panel to help streamline the federal government.

In a social media post, Musk said Tesla, the electric vehicle company he founded, is investigating Wednesday’s incident.

“Tesla’s entire senior team is currently investigating this matter,” Musk wrote. He added, “We’ve never seen anything like this.”