“Unrelated to the vehicle itself” - Elon musk reacts to Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion outside Trump hotel

The recent Tesla Cybertruck explosion in front of President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel left the country in shock after authorities speculated the explosion was an act of terrorism.

According to the FBI, the Tesla Cybertruck was rented from Turo, a car-renting company, which arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning. The CCTV footage of the hotel shows that the Cybertruck stood in front of Trump's hotel for 15-20 seconds before erupting in flames. The driver was killed in the explosion, and seven other bystanders were injured.

Following the incident, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, along with the FBI, started investigating the case. Tesla Cybertruck owner Elon Musk helped the investigators unlock the vehicle as well as providing them with video footage of the truck at the charging station.

Elon Musk reacts to the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion

When the Cybertruck exploded into flames in front of Trump's Las Vegas hotel, at first it was considered a malfunction of the vehicle itself. However, upon investigation, authorities confirmed that it was a planned explosion as they found explosive materials such as fireworks, camping fuel, and gasoline cans, among others.

"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 wrote on X.

According to the authorities, Cybertruck's 1.4 mm body panels and 1.8 mm door panels led to the explosion to cause minimal damage. Law enforcement officials further confirmed that most of the explosion was contained within the vehicle, and the rest went upwards through the roof instead of going sideways because of the Cybertruck's mechanism and structure.

Elon Musk took to social media to comment on the issue:

"The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. The Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken," he wrote.

Musk further called out media outlets for misleading headlines suggesting the explosion was caused by some internal issue with the Cybertruck. The authorities also denied this claim as explosives were found inside the cybertruck.

Following the incident, Jeremy Schwartz, the acting special agent of the FBI Las Vegas, stated,

"Our number one goal is to ensure that we have the proper identification of the subject involved. Following that, our second objective is to determine whether this was an act of terrorism or not."

Investigators are currently looking into the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas and another truck accident carried out by an Army veteran in New Orleans to determine whether the two incidents were connected, as both the incidents occurred a few hours apart, and both the Cybertruck and the pickup truck were rented from Turo.

"We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat," a Turo spokesperson stated, adding that they were actively assisting law enforcement officials in the investigation.

"We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards in risk management, thanks to our world-class trust and safety technologies and teams that include experienced former law enforcement professionals," the statement added.

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The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill further stated,

"We are investigating any connectivity to what happened in New Orleans as well as other attacks that have been occurring around the world." He further said, "We aren't ruling anything out."

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