A Tesla exploded outside a Las Vegas hotel, killing one person, just hours after the terrorist attack in New Orleans.
A Tesla vehicle exploded this Wednesday, January 1, 2025 in front of an entrance to the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. According to information provided by the city’s sheriff, Kevin McMahill, during a press conference, the driver lost his life while he was still in the passenger compartment and seven people were slightly injured. Elon Musk’s Tesla Cybertruck parked in front of the establishment owned by the Trump Organization before exploding. The structure of the model would have made it possible to “limit the damage”, according to the sheriff, explaining that the glass doors of the hotel had not been broken.
Gas canisters, gasoline cans and fireworks mortars were found in the rear of the vehicle. Elon Musk, boss of Tesla, then affirmed on X that the explosion was not linked to the vehicle but to large fireworks and/or a bomb transported in the Cybertruck. According to three law enforcement officials with NBC Newsthe explosion is being investigated as a suspected terrorist attack. According to the sheriff, at this stage, “no indication” establishes a link between the explosion and the Islamic State group. “There is no visible IS flag like there was in New Orleans,” he said.
An isolated act?
The explosion occurred only a few hours after the terrorist attack in New Orleans, where a man drove a car into a crowd, killing at least 15 people. Joe Biden, who spoke Wednesday evening, revealed that authorities were investigating “any possible connection” between the deadly attack and the explosion in front of the hotel, although nothing pointed in that direction “until now.” ‘now”. For the moment, the isolated act track is therefore favored.
However, a common point was noticed between the two events: the vehicles were rented via the Turo application in both cases. A “
coincidence (…) that we must continue to examine,” admitted Kevin McMahill. The lessor of the Tesla has been identified and has no known links to any terrorist organization. The authorities have not yet revealed whether he was the same person who died in the explosion.