What we know about the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas

Investigations are continuing into the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside US president-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel.

One person died and seven others were injured in the incident.

It occurred hours after a driver rammed a truck into a crowd on the iconic Bourbon Street in New Orleans, in what has since been classified as a terror attack.

Here's what we know.

What happened?

Surveillance video captured at Tesla charging stations shows a 2024 Tesla Cybertruck passing the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas about an hour before the incident.

It circled back near the end of that hour and stopped in the valet area of the hotel.

Fifteen or 20 seconds later, it caught fire and exploded.

Brazilian tourist Ana Bruce, who witnessed the incident, said she heard three explosions.

"The first one where we saw the fire, the second one, I guess, was the battery or something like that, and the third was the big one that smoked the entire area and was the moment when everyone was told to evacuate and stay away," she told the Associated Press.

Emergency services said a person who was inside the truck died.

Seven people who were nearby at the time of the explosion were injured and taken to hospital for treatment.

A county spokesperson said in a statement that the fire was reported at about 8:40am local time.

Las Vegas firefighters responded 4 minutes after the report and extinguished the fire.

The hotel was evacuated after the incident and most visitors were moved to another hotel.

What caused the explosion?

At a press conference, Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Police Department said "gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars were found in the back of the vehicle".

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said in a post to X the explosion was not related to the vehicle itself.

"All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion," he wrote.

Telemetry involves the automatic collection of data from remote sources to a central source, where it can be analysed.

What is a Cybertruck?

A Cybertruck is an electric pick-up truck manufactured by Tesla.

Its design concept was first introduced in November 2019 but has only been produced since 2023.

It features a body of flat, stainless-steel sheet panels.

Tesla advertises the truck as being "durable" and Mr Musk has previously described it as "a futuristic battle tank".

Sheriff McMahill said its design limited the damage that occurred.

"It had most of the blast go up through the truck and out," he said.

"In fact, if you look on that video, you'll see that the front glass doors at the Trump Hotel were not even broken by that blast."

Who was the driver?

Investigators have not yet identified the truck driver.

"Our number-one goal is to ensure that we have the proper identification of the subject involved in this incident," said Jeremy Schwarz, the acting special agent in charge for the FBI's Las Vegas office.

"Following that, our second objective is to determine whether this was an act of terrorism or not."

The truck had been rented in Colorado through car-sharing company Turo.

Sheriff McMahill said while authorities knew who hired the vehicle, they would not release the name until investigators determined whether it was the same person who died.

A statement released by Turo said the company was not aware of "a criminal background that would have identified [the driver] as a security threat".

Is it linked to the terror attack in New Orleans?

President Joe Biden said authorities were investigating whether there was any connection between the explosion and the terror attack in New Orleans.

"Thus far, there's nothing to report on that score at this time," he said in a press conference.

"I directed my team to make sure every resource, every resource is made available to federal, state and local law enforcement to complete the investigation in New Orleans quickly and to make sure there's no remaining threat to the American people."

According to Sheriff McMahill, the Ford F-150 pick-up truck used to ram into a crowd on Bourbon Street was rented from the same company as the Cybertruck.

He said officials were "investigating every aspect of this".

"Do I think it's a coincidence? I don't know.

"But what I can tell you is, we're absolutely investigating any connectivity to what happened in New Orleans, as well as other attacks that have been occurring around the world.

Sheriff McMahill suggested the location and vehicle used in the Las Vegas explosion could also indicate a political motive.

"Obviously, a Cybertruck, the Trump Hotel, there's lots of questions that we have to answer as we move forward," he said.

Mr Musk was a key backer of Trump in his recent presidential campaign.

The billionaire was named to co-lead a presidential advisory commission after he and the president-elect became close during the campaign.

ABC/Reuters/AP