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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| One dead after Tesla Cybertruck catches fire outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas | One dead after Tesla Cybertruck catches fire outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| CEO Elon Musk says ‘we’ve never seen anything like this’ as Tesla investigates explosion that also injured seven | CEO Elon Musk says ‘we’ve never seen anything like this’ as Tesla investigates explosion that also injured seven |
| One person died and seven more were injured on Wednesday when a Tesla truck caught fire and exploded outside Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel, authorities said. | One person died and seven more were injured on Wednesday when a Tesla truck caught fire and exploded outside Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel, authorities said. |
| Las Vegas metropolitan police and Clark county fire department officials in Nevada said at a news conference that a person died inside the vehicle. | |
| Another seven people nearby received minor injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment. | Another seven people nearby received minor injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment. |
| According to a law enforcement official, the truck was rented via the Turo app and appeared to be carrying a large load of fireworks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. | |
| Elon Musk, the tech industry leader who owns Tesla, swiftly posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter before he bought it, saying that “the whole Tesla senior team” was investigating what happened. | |
| He said the team would “post more information as soon as we learn anything”, adding that “we’ve never seen anything like this.” His remarks included another post referring to a “detonation” when the car exploded. | He said the team would “post more information as soon as we learn anything”, adding that “we’ve never seen anything like this.” His remarks included another post referring to a “detonation” when the car exploded. |
| Musk later posted further, saying: “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.” | |
| The vehicle in questions was a Tesla Cybertruck, a futuristic-looking pickup truck with bodywork echoing a stealth-fighter type aircraft. | |
| A Turo spokesperson did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. | |
| Law enforcement officials have not ruled out terrorism as a possible motive, a person familiar with the matter said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation. | |
| “I know you have a lot of questions,” Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge for the FBI’s Las Vegas office, told reporters. “We don’t have a lot of answers.” | |
| Joe Biden was briefed on the explosion. The White House had already been keeping the US president updated on a tragedy in Louisiana hours earlier, after a driver rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’s famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing 15 people before being shot and killed by police. | |
| Musk became a prominent supporter of a donor to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign this year. He shook things up when he began appearing at the Republican’s election rallies in the fall and was treated like a superstar by Trump, then became a close adviser to the president-elect after Trump beat the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, in November. Harris had taken over from Biden when the latter dropped out of his re-election race in the summer. | |
| Trump named Musk as joint head of a newly created entity called the department of government efficiency that will seek to cut costs from the federal government machinery once the new administration is sworn in on 20 January. | Trump named Musk as joint head of a newly created entity called the department of government efficiency that will seek to cut costs from the federal government machinery once the new administration is sworn in on 20 January. |
| The controversial decision has brought questions about potential conflicts of interest and national security concerns regarding Musk’s US and global business interests and federal government business. There is very little detail about the planned structure or constitutional foundation of creating such a “department”. | The controversial decision has brought questions about potential conflicts of interest and national security concerns regarding Musk’s US and global business interests and federal government business. There is very little detail about the planned structure or constitutional foundation of creating such a “department”. |
| A county spokesperson said in a statement that the fire in the valet parking area of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas was reported at 8.40am local time. | A county spokesperson said in a statement that the fire in the valet parking area of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas was reported at 8.40am local time. |
| No cause was given and details were minimal. | No cause was given and details were minimal. |
| In Las Vegas, witness Ana Bruce, visiting from Brazil, 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,” Bruce said. | |
| Her travel companion, Alcides Antunes, showed video he took of flames lapping the sides of the silver-colored vehicle. | |
| Eric Trump, a son of the president-elect and executive vice-president of the Trump Organization, posted about the fire on the social media platform X. He praised the fire department and local law enforcement “for their swift response and professionalism”. | Eric Trump, a son of the president-elect and executive vice-president of the Trump Organization, posted about the fire on the social media platform X. He praised the fire department and local law enforcement “for their swift response and professionalism”. |
| The 64-story hotel is just off the famed Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping mall. | The 64-story hotel is just off the famed Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping mall. |
| The Associated Press contributed reporting | The Associated Press contributed reporting |