In a highly symbolic New Year's Day event, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded as it sat outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, leaving one person dead, and speculation is swirling about a possible link to the tragedy in New Orleans hours earlier.

The incident happened around 8:40 am local time in the porte cochère of the Trump Las Vegas hotel, directly outside the front door and lobby. The parked Cybertruck could be seen in mutiple videos posted to X on flames and exploding multiple times, and the sound of fireworks could also be heard in the video below.

As the New York Times reports via the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), the person who died in the explosion was inside the vehicle, and at least seven people suffered minor injuries.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill, who leads the LVMPD, said during a news conference that his department was "very well aware of what has happened in New Orleans with the event that occurred there," referring to the possible terroristic vehicle attack that killed at least 10 people on Bourbon Street, and they were "taking all of the precautions that we need to take to keep our community safe."

Sheriff McMahill, referring to the link between Tesla, Elon Musk, and President-elect Donald Trump, added, "Obviously, a Cybertruck, the Trump Hotel, there’s lots of questions that we have to answer as we move forward."

Subsequently on Wednesday, it was confirmed that both the pickup truck used in the New Orleans attack and the Tesla Cybertruck were rented through the same service, Turo.

Musk went on Xitter Wednesday to express his concerns, saying, "We’ve never seen anything like this," and "the whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now."

At least one tourist staying in the hotel told the Times that he saw the Cybertruck exploding in multiple colors of flames, like fireworks.

Another tourist reported smelling a "gas-like" odor in the hotel lobby.

The hotel was subsequently evacuated, creating a fair amount of inconvenience for those planning to stay in the 1300-room hotel past New Year's Day.

The exploding Cybertruck, the cause of which we still do not know, comes just weeks after a Cybertruck collided with a tree in Piedmont, bursting into flames and killing three young people trapped inside who were home from college for the Thanksgiving holiday. That accident is being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Traffic Safety Board.

This is a developing story.