A Tesla Cybertruck, Elon Musk’s pickup truck, exploded Wednesday morning, January 1, in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, killing one person and lightly injuring seven others, police said. local.
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“ There is a deceased person inside the Cybertruck “, declared Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas police, during a press conference given Wednesday, January 1. The police officer also indicated that seven people were suffering from “ minor injuries » following what he described as “ big explosion “. “ We had to evacuate the hotel “, clarified Mr. McMahill.
In images posted on social networks, a gray Cybertruck electric vehicle, parked in front of the entrance to the hotel where the name “Trump” is displayed large, explodes in a huge cloud of smoke. “ We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the back of the rented Cybertruck and is not linked to the vehicle itself », affirmed Elon Muskthe boss of Tesla.
Contacted by AFP to confirm these assertions, Las Vegas police did not immediately respond. “ We’ve never seen anything like this », initially declared Mr. Musk, also charged by Donald Trump of an extra-governmental mission of deregulation and reduction of public spending in his future government.
Outgoing President Joe Biden was briefed on the explosion near the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, the White House said Wednesday.
An investigation into a possible “ act of terrorism »
The FBI also quickly declared that it was treating the attack in New Orleans as a “ act of terrorism “. “ As you can imagine, with an explosion here on our iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking every precaution to keep our community safe “, declared Kevin McMahill, the sheriff of this Nevada city, without providing further details.
The police said they were investigating the causes of this explosion. American media, such as CBS, report that authorities are investigating a possible “ act of terrorism », quoting anonymous sources.
This explosion comes a few hours after a former American soldier, identified by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, is suspected of having drove into the crowd in the French Quarter in New Orleansleaving at least 15 dead and dozens injured. Investigators said they found an Islamic State group flag in the vehicle.
US President Joe Biden, during a speech on the attack in New Orleans, indicated that authorities were investigating the Cybertruck explosion, in particular to find out “ if there was any possible connection to the attack in New Orleans “. “ So far there is nothing to report on this subject “, he clarified.