MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Truck explosion leaves one dead in front of Las Vegas Trump Tower

The Tesla Cybertruck and the Ford F-150 pickup truck involved in the New Orleans incident were both rentals from the same agency

One person was killed and seven others were injured Wednesday after a Tesla electric vehicle known as a Cybertruck model filled with fireworks exploded at about 8:40 am local time in front of a Trump Tower building in Las Vegas, Nevada. One fatal victim and “seven minor injuries” were corroborated by a Clark County Fire Department spokesman. The person killed was inside the Tesla vehicle, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters. There was smoke coming from the vehicle before a “large explosion,” he added.

After the incident, local police blocked off roads adjacent to the building while numerous law enforcement vehicles and ambulances were deployed. The 64-story hotel was evacuated and people are encouraged to stay away from the area.

According to local media, the episode is handled as a possible criminal or terrorist act until the motive is determined and other possibilities are ruled out. Witnesses said they heard a “huge explosion” near the building and video footage going viral showed a column of smoke rising in front of the skyscraper while another camera caught the luxury van burning near the entrance.

Explota Tesla Cybertruck en el hotel Trump de Las Vegas, Nevada

Una persona murió al interior del vehículo, 7 más resultaron con lesiones menores pic.twitter.com/6jK5bXsUsd

— Juan Becerra Acosta (@juanbaaq) January 1, 2025

Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Touchstone said two people were rushed to a hospital with injuries while other victims were in no serious condition.

“I know you have a lot of questions,”, Acting FBI Special Agent Jeremy Schwartz told reporters. “We don’t have a lot of answers.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on X that the vehicle was not the source of the explosion and insisted that “the entire Tesla senior team is investigating this issue right now.”

“We've never seen anything like this,” he added while confirming that “the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried on the platform of the rented Cybertruck and is not related to the vehicle itself.”

“All telemetry on the vehicle was positive at the time of the explosion,” he also pointed out on X, the social media he also owns. “It seems likely that this is an act of terrorism,” he further noted.

He also pointed out that the Tesla Cybertruck and the Ford F-150 pickup truck involved in the New Orleans mass killing hours earlier had been rented from the same company - Turo. “Maybe they are related in some way,” Musk suggested.

President-elect Donald Trump's son Eric said in a statement on X that “the safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority.”

Ana Bruce, a Brazilian witness interviewed by The Associated Press, said she heard three explosions: “The first one where we saw the fire, the second one, I guess, was the battery or something like that, and the third was the big one that smoked the entire area and was the moment when everyone was told to evacuate and stay away,” she explained.