A Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas early Wednesday morning – on January 1 – leaving one person dead and seven others injured. The incident unfolded near the hotel’s valet area on Las Vegas Boulevard.
The rented Tesla Cybertruck arrived in Las Vegas at approximately 7:30 AM after being driven from Colorado. According to law enforcement officials, the vehicle traveled along the Las Vegas Strip before parking outside the Trump International Hotel around 8:40 AM Roughly 15 seconds after stopping near the hotel’s entrance, the vehicle erupted into flames following a series of loud explosions.
Eyewitness accounts describe smoke billowing from the truck before the blast. Videos captured by bystanders show the Cybertruck engulfed in flames as emergency services worked to contain the situation. The explosion left one individual, believed to be the driver, dead inside the vehicle. Seven others sustained minor injuries due to the force of the blast and flying debris. The vehicle was rented in Colorado, according to officials.
For now, the blast is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack. Investigators discovered gasoline canisters, camp fuel containers, and firework mortars in the truck’s bed. Preliminary findings suggest that these materials were the source of the explosion. Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department stated that the Cybertruck’s design may have mitigated some of the damage. The truck’s structure directed much of the explosion’s force upward, sparing the hotel’s glass entrance doors from severe damage.
“We’re very well aware of what has happened in New Orleans with the event that occurred there, and the number of victims there, and the additional IEDs,” McMahill commented on the matter. “So as you can imagine, with an explosion here on iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking all of the precautions that we need to take to keep our community safe.” For now, law enforcement is on the lookout for secondary explosive devices, even though there does not appear to be any further threat at this point of time.
The Las Vegas explosion occurred hours after a deadly attack in New Orleans, where a rented Ford truck was used to plow into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revelers, killing 15 people and injuring dozens more. That vehicle, like the Cybertruck, was rented via the peer-to-peer car-sharing platform Turo. There does not seem to be any direct connection between the two incidents, but the timing and use of rented vehicles have raised questions. ederal agencies, including the FBI, are assisting in the investigations of both events.
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, confirmed that the vehicle itself was operating normally at the time of the explosion. He revealed that telemetry data and surveillance footage from Tesla charging stations showed no abnormalities. Musk’s team has been cooperating with law enforcement to provide technical assistance and video evidence. “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,” Musk said. Turo, the platform used to rent both vehicles, stated that neither driver had a criminal background.
The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now.
Will post more information as soon as we learn anything.
We’ve never seen anything like this. https://t.co/MpmICGvLXf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 1, 2025
