By Emmanuel Nduka
American authorities are probing whether the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas could be linked to terrorism, Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) agent Jeremy Schwartz confirmed at a press conference on Wednesday.
The blast resulted in the death of the truck’s driver and left seven others with minor injuries, according to the Las Vegas Police Department.
While agent Schwartz did not provide any further details about the identity of the individual killed in the explosion, in a separate briefing, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) Sheriff Kevin McMahill disclosed that they had identified the person who rented the truck.
Although rumors were circulating on social media about the individual’s name, McMahill refrained from commenting on those reports, emphasizing that the next of kin had to be notified and that a “100 percent identification” was necessary.
The truck had been rented in Colorado and arrived in Las Vegas at approximately 7:30 a.m. (1550 GMT) on Wednesday. Authorities revealed that the vehicle drove up and down Las Vegas Boulevard before reaching the Trump Tower.
At around 8:00 a.m., the vehicle stopped directly in front of the hotel’s glass entrance doors and exploded roughly 20 seconds later. While the exact cause of the explosion remains unknown, McMahill’s office has yet to examine the vehicle.
Surveillance footage showed smoke rising from the truck before a massive detonation. Later, drone footage revealed the charred remnants of several gasoline canisters and fireworks at the scene.
The fire completely destroyed the electric vehicle, which had been rented via the same platform used by the attacker involved in a deadly incident in New Orleans earlier on New Year’s Day.
In that attack, a pickup truck was driven into a crowd, killing 15 people. McMahill confirmed that authorities are exploring a potential connection between the two incidents, as the Las Vegas explosion occurred just hours after the New Orleans attack.
