Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Samuel Corum/Getty Images/Ethan Miller
Topics: Celebrity, Cybertruck , Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Las Vegas, Tesla, US News
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Celebrity, Cybertruck , Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Las Vegas, Tesla, US News
Elon Musk has 'confirmed' the cause of an explosion which saw a Tesla Cybertruck blow up outside of a Trump hotel.
Yesterday (January 1), a Tesla Cybertruck exploded at around 8:40am in the valet area outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's International Hotel at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sammy Davis Jr. Drive.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told reporters, as quoted by ABC News, that the vehicle pulled into the valet area of the hotel and exploded between 15 to 20 seconds after coming to a standstill.
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A photograph released by Las Vegas Sheriff's Office shows the back of the truck which appears stacked with fireworks and canisters.
The driver of the vehicle has been reported dead and seven bystanders were injured, according to officials.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter that afternoon, writing: "The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now. Will post more information as soon as we learn anything. We’ve never seen anything like this."
Trump International Hotel Las Vegas also took to the platform to address the incident, stating: "The safety & well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their swift response."
And the Tesla CEO has since shared another update.
In a post to Twitter later that day, he said: "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.
"All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion."
Sheriff McMahill has reassured authorities 'believe everything is safe now' and that the explosion was an 'isolated incident' rather than being connected in any way to another incident which occurred in New Orleans the same day.
Earlier on New Year's Day, New Orleans’ emergency preparedness agency, NOLA, confirmed they were dealing with a mass casualty incident after a pick-up truck drove into a crowd of people celebrating the New Year in the Bourbon Street area, killing 15 and injuring dozens of others.
The FBI reported an Islamic State terror group (ISIS) flag was located in the vehicle and the attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
Regarding the explosion outside of Trump's Las Vegas hotel, McMahill has said there's 'no indication' it's also linked to ISIS, with FBI special agent Jeremy Schwartz emphasizing: "We believe this is an isolated incident, we do not believe there is a bunch of folks out there supporting this or helping this."