Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel, Jan. 1. AP-Yonhap

At least one person was killed and seven wounded when a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a hotel belonging to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Las Vegas, police said Wednesday.

The electric vehicle pulled up to the Trump International Hotel's glass entrance before a "large explosion," Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters.

Video footage shows the stainless steel truck parked at the hotel entrance before bursting into flames, followed by smaller explosions that appeared similar to fireworks.

McMahill said there was "one deceased individual inside the Cybertruck" while seven people received "minor" injuries.

Tesla chief Elon Musk said that the explosion was "caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck," adding in a post on X that it was "unrelated to the vehicle itself."

Earlier, he said the "whole Tesla senior team" was investigating the blast, adding: "We've never seen anything like this."

Police said they are still working to establish the cause of the explosion.

U.S. media including NBC and CBS reported that authorities were investigating it as a potential terror attack, citing unnamed sources.

Musk, who backed Trump in the November election and was named by the Republican to head up a commission to trim government spending, said he would post more information "as soon as we learn anything."

President Joe Biden was briefed on the explosion and directed his team to offer any federal assistance needed, the White House said.

He was earlier briefed on a car-ramming attack in New Orleans that left at least 15 people dead on Wednesday.

McMahill referenced that attack but did not explicitly link the two incidents, saying that authorities in Las Vegas were "taking all of the precautions that we need to keep our community safe."

He said the hotel had been evacuated. (AFP)