*

Person in Cybertruck killed, seven injured in blast

*

FBI investigating whether an act of terrorism

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Incident occurred hours after man drove truck into crowd

in New

Orleans

(Updates headline, first paragraph to show driver killed in

blast)

By David Shepardson, Karen Brettell and Ronda Churchill

LAS VEGAS, Jan 1 (Reuters) - A Tesla Cybertruck exploded

in flames outside the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas on

Wednesday, killing the driver and injuring seven others, and the

FBI was investigating whether the blast was an act of terrorism,

officials said.

Videos taken by witnesses inside and outside the hotel

showed the vehicle exploding and flames pouring out of it, as it

sat just outside the hotel.

The incident occurred just hours after a man drove a truck

into crowds of New Year's Day revelers in New Orleans, killing

15.

The Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is part of the

Trump Organization, the company of President-elect Donald Trump,

who will return to the White House on Jan. 20. Tesla

CEO Elon Musk was a key backer of Trump in his 2024 presidential

campaign and is also an adviser to the incoming president.

"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 an afternoon 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.

"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.

Musk 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."

Telemetry involves the automatic collection of data from

remote sources, transmitting it back to a central source so it

can later be analyzed.

A person was found dead inside the 2024 model-year

Cybertruck and seven people sustained minor injuries from the

explosion, McMahill said. He added that both the Cybertruck and

the vehicle used in the New Orleans attack had been rented

through car-sharing service Turo.

McMahill said the Cybertruck pulled up to the Trump building

at 8:40 a.m. local time (1640 GMT). He said police were mindful

of the New Orleans attack that occurred earlier on Wednesday.

The FBI said a potential explosive device was found in the

vehicle used in the New Orleans attack.

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

Organization and a son of President-elect Trump, posted about

the incident on X. "Earlier today, a reported electric vehicle

fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas," he

wrote, referring to the building's covered entrance area.