1 person dies when truck catches fire and explodes outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel

LAS VEGAS (AP) - One person died and seven more were injured Wednesday when a Tesla truck caught fire and exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel, authorities said.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Clark County Fire Department officials said at a news conference that a person died inside the vehicle and that they were working to get the body out.

Another seven people nearby received minor injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment.

A county spokeswoman said in a statement that the fire in the valet area of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas was reported at 8:40 a.m.

No cause was given and details were sketchy.

"I know you have a lot of questions," Jeremy Schwartz, acting FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Las Vegas office, said at the news conference. "We don’t have a lot of answers."

Eric Trump, a son of the president-elect and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, posted about the fire on the social media platform X. He praised the fire department and local law enforcement "for their swift response and professionalism."

The 64-story hotel is just off the famed Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping mall.