Photo: Cybertruck afire in front of the Trump Hotel
By Didimoko A. Didimoko, with agency report
There is panic at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day after a cybertruck exploded, killing at least one person and injuring a dozen others.
The incident came barely hours after a Cybertruck caught fire at a dealership in Decatur in Atlanta, Georgia.
However, the incident raised concerns after a truck driver rammed into revellers in Louisiana earlier, killing at least 10 persons and wounding dozens of others in a suspected terrorist attack.
The cybertruck is a flagship of Tesla, which is owned by Elon Musk, a buddy of incoming US President Donald Trump.
Reacting to the incident on Wednesday, Musk said on the ‘X’ (former) platform, “The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now.”
Musk said the incident was the first of its kind, saying, “We have not seen anything like this” in the post.
Meanwhile, the incident has raised concerns about possible terrorist attacks on the US, with Las Vegas police referencing the killing of 10 persons earlier in the day by an ISIS-flag-waving truck driver in Louisiana.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police confirmed the incident, saying the explosion occurred at about 8:40 am local time.
He said they were told that the truck pulled up at the last entrance door.
Sheriff Kelvin McMahill said, “We saw that smoke started showing from the vehicle, and then a large explosion from the truck occurred.”
McMahill said the dead victim was inside the truck.
While not saying that the incident was a terror attack, the sheriff said the police authorities were taking precautions because of the Louisiana incident earlier.
Meanwhile, Naija Daily News gathered that the fire incident at the Trump Hotel was the second involving a Tesla cybertruck in less than 24 hours.
A report on Decaturish said a Cybertruck went up in flames overnight in Dekalb County on New Year’s Eve.
“It happened just before 3 a.m. The entire back of the truck burned, and the back tyres melted,” the report added.
Firefighters, according to the report, believed the battery may have started that fire, which affected a dealership on Church Street in Decatur.
