One person was killed and at least seven were injured after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, the authorities said, and officials were investigating any possible links to an earlier attack on a crowd in New Orleans.

The person who died in the explosion of the Cybertruck packed with explosives was an active-duty US Army soldier, officials said on Thursday.

Two law enforcement officials identified the man inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck as Matthew Livelsberger. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Livelsberger was a highly decorated member of the army’s elite Green Berets, a special forces unit and guerrilla warfare experts, according to an army statement. He has served in the army since 2006, rising through the ranks, and was on approved leave
when he died, the statement said. He had two stints in Afghanistan.

The Green Berets work to counter terrorists abroad using unconventional techniques.

Livelsberger spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive army base in North Carolina that is home to the army special forces command.

The FBI said on Thursday in a post on X that it was “conducting law enforcement activity” at a home in Colorado Springs related to Wednesday’s explosion but provided no other details.

Seven people nearby suffered minor injuries when the Tesla truck exploded.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday afternoon on X that “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”.

“All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” Musk wrote.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said during a news conference that the authorities “believe this to be an isolated incident”, but have not yet ruled out a connection to the Wednesday morning attack in New Orleans that killed at least 15 people.

Sheriff McMahill said the authorities had found gas canisters, camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars in the back of the truck. It was unclear how they had been ignited, he added.

“There is no further threat to the community,” Sheriff McMahill said.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Jeremy Schwartz, the acting FBI special agent in charge in Las Vegas, said the agency was investigating whether the explosion “was an act of terrorism or not”.

The Las Vegas Police Department received a report of an explosion at the Trump Hotel around 8.40am local time.

The police were told that a 2024 Cybertruck “pulled up to the last entrance doors of the hotel”, Sheriff McMahill said earlier, at a news conference.

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

The authorities said that the truck had been rented in Colorado using Turo, the same car rental app used in the New Orleans attack. The authorities had been able to trace the car back to Colorado using video footage captured at charging stations, Sheriff McMahill said.

The truck had arrived in Las Vegas around 7.30am local time, Sheriff McMahill said, and had gone up and down Las Vegas Boulevard before immediately pulling into the Trump Hotel.

In a statement, a Turo spokesperson said the company was working with the authorities as they investigate both incidents.

“We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat,” the spokesperson said in the statement.

“Earlier today, a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas,” Eric Trump, Donald J. Trump’s son and a leader of the Trump Organisation, said in a statement on X. “The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority.”

The same message was posted by the Trump Las Vegas’s social media account. People who were staying at the hotel said they had been evacuated because of the fire.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.