UPDATED: Days out from CES 2025 and hours after a car was driven into a crowd in New Orleans killing 15 people a Tesla Cybertruck car has exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, where CES guests stay, one person is dead Musk claims “nothing wrong with Cybertruck”.

The incident on New Year’s Day, has shocked bystanders with several injured, police are looking for secondary devices after discovering what been described as “mortars” in the vehicle.

The incident outside the entrance of US President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel near the iconic Las Vegas strip is a worry for organisers of CES which attracts over 175,000 visitors from around the world.

Located close to the Fashion Mall in Las Vegas the FBI has been called in according to local Nevada law enforcement, Australians were caught up in the incident.

Investigators have revealed that “large firework mortars” and gas canisters were found in the back of a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day that killed one person and injured several others.

The blast is now reportedly being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, three senior law-enforcement members briefed on the matter have told US media organisations.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk claims the explosion has nothing to do with the Cybertruck itself, saying the company was able to remotely access data from this specific Cybertruck to prove it wasn’t caused by the vehicle.

“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,” he posted on X.

Sheriff McMahill said the authorities have identified the person who rented the truck but are not releasing their name.

The truck had arrived in Las Vegas at around 7:30 a.m. local time, Sheriff McMahill said, and had gone up and down Las Vegas Boulevard before immediately pulling into the Trump Hotel.

We hadn’t previously heard the Cybertruck was rented; Musk also now claims that “law enforcement currently believes [the explosion] was most likely intentional.”

“Right now, we just don’t have a lot of answers,” FBI special agent Jeremy Schwartz, said.

Authorities didn’t have any details about the dead person inside the Cybertruck; we don’t even yet know if they were the driver. “We are investigating a number of leads, and I’m not prepared to release any of that information to you just yet,” McMahill says.

According to Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill police are looking for “secondary devices” just in case with guests evacuated from the hotel, following the New Orleans incident.

The incident unfolded after a Cybertruck was driven up to the hotel lobby, according to authorities.

“Bystanders saw that smoke started pouring from the vehicle and then a large explosion occurred,” McMahill said.

Fire crews were on scene within four minutes, and the fire was put out within an hour.

A single anonymous “official briefed on the probe” told ABC News that the Cybertruck contained a load of “fireworks-style mortars,.”

One video shared on X shows the truck engulfed in flames just outside the hotel’s lobby.

Multiple eyewitnesses reported hearing at least one explosion as the vehicle ignited.