Three people have been killed in a fiery early morning crash involving a popular electric vehicle. One person survived the tragedy, which struck on the eve of Thanksgiving.
The crash, involving a Tesla Cybertruck, occurred just after 3 a.m. Wednesday in Piedmont, California, according to KGO-TV.
The occupants of the Tesla were recent graduates of Piedmont High School.
The Piedmont Police Department was first alerted to the crash by an iPhone in the vehicle.
Responding officers found a tragic scene.
Although, as KTVU reported, a man driving behind the truck noticed the crash and was able to pull one severely-injured survivor to safety, this would ultimately be the only person transported to the hospital.
Piedmont Police Chief Jeremy Bowers said the occupants of the Cybertruck and the man who was driving behind them were possibly at an event before the crash, but he did not go into detail.
Those killed in the crash were identified as a young woman and two young men, KGO-TV reported.
The lone survivor, a man, was left with serious injuries after the crash and subsequent fire. He was operated on and sedated, so he could heal from his burns and other injuries.
All of those involved in the crash graduated from Piedmont High in 2023 and were sophomores in college at the time of the accident.
Officials said speed was likely a factor in the deadly single-car wreck.
The Cybertruck apparently entered the accident with tremendous momentum, as police found that it “jumped the curb, struck a cement wall, and then wedged in between the wall and a tree.”
Tesla’s data weighs its electric truck at 6,898 pounds and clocks its ability to reach 60 miles per hour at 2.6 seconds.
The fire, which erupted after the crash, was too much for police to handle with extinguishers. After the survivor was pulled to safety, the flames proved too hot for any to approach the vehicle.
Police Chief Bowers said, “[T]he nature of the vehicle was a Cybertruck, and the heat was just too intense,” according to KTVU.
Authorities’ preliminary investigation revealed no apparent mechanical failure of the Cybertruck. The fire also does not appear to be a catastrophic failure of the batteries.
“Due to the quick nature of being able to suppress the fire, we don’t think the main lithium battery of the car were on fire,” Piedmont Fire Chief David Brannigan told KGO-TV. “But that’s going to be determined as part of the investigation.”
The ongoing investigation will also determine whether drugs or alcohol had anything to do with the deadly wreck.
