Authorities say they are investigating the incident, which left seven people with minor injuries.

One person was killed and seven injured after a Tesla Cybertruck caught fire and exploded outside a Las Vegas hotel partially owned by US President-elect Donald Trump.

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Clark County officials, the fire broke out in the valet parking area of ​​the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas around 8:40 a.m. local time (14:40 GMT) on Wednesday.

“We were told that a 2024 Cybertruck pulled up in front of the hotel. And sure enough, I can tell you, it stopped right in front of the glass front doors of the hotel,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference. “We saw smoke coming from the vehicle and then a large explosion coming from the truck.”

Details are still unclear and the cause of the explosion has yet to be confirmed by authorities.

“I know you have a lot of questions,” Jeremy Schwartz, the acting special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), told reporters. “We don’t have a lot of answers.”

Authorities said the truck appeared to be carrying fireworks and one person was found dead inside the vehicle. Several people in the vicinity of the explosion were treated for minor injuries.

One witness, Ana Bruce, told the Associated Press news agency that she heard three explosions as a result of the fire.

“The first time it happened was when we saw the fire,” Bruce said. “The second reason was probably the battery or something like that, and the third was the big one that put the whole area in smoke and was the moment everyone was told to evacuate and stay away.”

The incident occurred hours after a car attack in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, that left at least ten people dead. Authorities are investigating the incident as a possible terrorist attack.

The suspect in this case is believed to have had improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in his truck at the time of the car accident.

Sheriff McMahill acknowledged that his officers were “well aware of what happened in New Orleans” and that the incident could factor into their investigation. But he shied away from connecting the two.

“As you can imagine, in the face of an explosion here on famous Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of our community. We are looking for secondary devices,” McMahill said at the press conference, adding that there appears to be no other threat to the community.

The Cybertruck explosion comes as Trump prepares to take office for a second term on January 20.

His new government includes close advisers such as tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom Trump has tapped to co-head a yet-to-be-founded nongovernmental organization called the Department of Government Efficiency.

Trump introduced the new unit as an advisory body that would help streamline the federal government.

In a social media post, Musk said that Tesla, the electric vehicle company he founded, was investigating Wednesday’s incident.

“Tesla’s entire senior team is currently investigating this matter,” Musk wrote, adding, “We have never seen anything like this.”