On the morning of New Year’s Day, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded and caught fire outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, resulting in one death and seven injuries, The New York Times and other outlets reported on the 1st. Local authorities are investigating the possibility of terrorism, considering a potential connection to a vehicle ramming incident in New Orleans earlier that day, which caused dozens of casualties.

According to reports, the Tesla Cybertruck, parked in the valet area at the entrance of the Trump Hotel, suddenly exploded at around 8:40 a.m., engulfing the vehicle in flames. The Las Vegas Police Department stated that the driver, who had arrived at the hotel in the truck, died, and seven others nearby were injured. The driver’s identity remains unknown.

Authorities noted that the explosion occurred just hours after a pickup truck rammed into a crowd in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, causing numerous casualties. Although no evidence directly links the two incidents, investigators are considering the possibility that the Cybertruck explosion may be related to terrorism.

Kevin McMahill, Chief of the Las Vegas Police Department, commented during a press conference, “There are certainly many questions surrounding the Cybertruck, the Trump Hotel, and this incident. We need to find answers moving forward.”

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, linked the news of the Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump Hotel on his X (formerly Twitter) account, stating, “It seems like an act of terrorism. Both the Cybertruck and the F-150 pickup truck involved in the New Orleans suicide bombing were rented through Turo. There may be a connection between these two events.”

Musk further explained, “From what we’ve identified so far, the explosion was caused by a large quantity of fireworks or bombs stored in the rented vehicle’s bed. It had nothing to do with the vehicle itself, and all telemetry data from the truck was normal at the time of the explosion.”

The Trump Hotel in Las Vegas is part of the Trump Organization, a family business of President-elect Donald Trump. Eric Trump, Trump’s second son and president of the Trump Organization, issued a statement on X, saying, “Early this morning, we received a report of an electric vehicle fire in the driveway of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. The safety of our guests and staff is our top priority.”