The driver of a Tesla Cybertruck was killed and seven others were injured when it exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
According to officials, the FBI was looking into whether the explosion was an act of terrorism.
The incident happened just hours after a man drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revelers in New Orleans, killing 15.
The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is owned by the Trump Organisation, which is headed by President-elect Donald Trump, who will return to the White House on January 20.
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk was a significant supporter of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and now serves as the incoming president’s adviser.
FBI special agent in charge Jeremy Schwartz later told reporters that it was not yet clear whether the blast was an act of terrorism.
He added that the FBI had identified the person driving the vehicle, which had been rented in Colorado, but was not yet ready to publicly identify the driver.
Musk said the blast was unrelated to the Cybertruck itself.
“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 in a post on X.
“All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”
A person was found dead inside the 2024 model-year Cybertruck and seven people sustained minor injuries from the explosion.
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.
