Nov. 29 (UPI) — Three people are dead and a fourth has been hospitalized with serious injuries after their Tesla Cybertruck was involved in a single-vehicle collision and became engulfed in flames in northern California, authorities said.
Police Chief Jeremy Bowers in Piedmont, a city of some 10,600 people just outside Oakland, Calif., told reporters in a press conference that the crash occurred at the intersection of Hampton Road and King Avenue just after 3 a.m. local time Wednesday.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, with Bowers stating that there is no indication that a mechanical issue was a primary reason. He added that speed likely played a contributing factor.
He said the four people had left an unidentified function in the Cybertruck prior to the crash, which an iPhone inside the vehicle had notified police of at 3:08 a.m.
Bowers said officers arrived two minutes later to find the vehicle “fully engulfed in flames” and a bystander trying to extract an occupant from it.
Officers attempted to put out the flames with extinguishers, which failed to do so because of the fire’s intensity, he said.
Firefighters, who arrived on scene at 3:16 a.m., were able to quickly put out the flames, Piedmont Fire Chief David Brannigan said.
“Due to the quick nature of being able to suppress the fire, we don’t think the main lithium batteries were on fire, but that’s going to be determined by the investigation,” Brannigan said.
The sole survivor of the crash had been pulled from the Cybertruck by a motorist who may have been leaving the same function as the victims, Bowers explained.
Brannigan said the unidentified motorist “probably saved a life.”
“It’s good to know that somebody was willing to help,” he said.
The identities of the victims would not be released to the public at this time, Bowers said, out of respect for the families’ privacy.
He told reporters that the crash is going to have a lasting impact on Piedmont.
“This is a very tight-knit community and this is a community that is going to rally around members that are affected by this tragedy,” he said. “But there’s no doubt this is going to be immensely impactful for this community. It already has been and it will continue to be so.”
The Cybertruck, produced Tesla, which is owned by Elon Musk, went on sale in November of last year. Since then, it has been subjected to six recalls, with the most recent being issued earlier this month.