Videos taken by witnesses showed the vehicle exploding and flames pouring out of it, as it sat just outside the hotel.
Fire crews work outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas after the explosion. (AP PHOTO)
Wednesday's incident occurred just hours after a man drove a truck into crowds of New Year's Day revellers in New Orleans, killing at least 15.
"Obviously a Cybertruck, the Trump hotel- there's lots of questions that we have to answer," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a press conference.
FBI special agent in charge Jeremy Schwartz later told reporters that it was not yet clear whether the blast was an act of terrorism.
Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Schwartz said the FBI had identified the person driving the vehicle. (AP PHOTO)
"I know everybody's interested in that word, and trying to see if we can say, 'Hey, this is a terrorist attack.' That is our goal, and that's what we're trying to do," Schwartz said.
He added that the FBI had identified the person driving the vehicle, which had been rented in Colorado, but was not yet ready to publicly identify the driver.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and an adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump, said the blast was unrelated to the Cybertruck itself.
"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," Musk said in a post on X.
"All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion."
The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) Will post more information as soon as we learn anything.We've never seen anything like this. https://t.co/MpmICGvLXfJanuary 1, 2025
Telemetry involves the automatic collection of data from remote sources, transmitting it back to a central source so it can later be analysed.
The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is part of the Trump Organisation, the company of US President-elect Trump, who will return to the White House on January 20.
A person was found dead inside the 2024 model-year Cybertruck and seven people sustained minor injuries from the explosion, McMahill said.
News reports said the fire was being investigated as a possible terrorist act.
McMahill said the Cybertruck pulled up to the Trump building at 8.40am local time.
"As you can imagine, with an explosion here on iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking all the precautions that we need to take to keep our community safe. We're looking for secondary devices," he said, adding that there did not appear to be any further threat to the community.
Las Vegas firefighters responded four minutes after the vehicle fire was reported and extinguished it. Two of the injured people were transported to hospitals with minor injuries. The Trump Hotel was evacuated after the incident and most of the visitors were moved to another hotel.
Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, posted about the incident on X.
Earlier today, a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas. The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their…— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) January 1, 2025
The 64-storey hotel is just off the famed Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping centre.
with Reuters
