The quiet scene in the closed meeting at SpaceX headquarters, Hawthorne – California, suddenly turned into a disaster. In just a few short seconds, flames erupted from the technical area behind, black smoke billowed into the hall, where hundreds of engineers, leaders and Elon Musk were sitting. The explosion was deafening, glass shattered, witnesses screamed, everyone rushed to run in chaos.
A shocked SpaceX employee said: “I saw him coughing violently, trying to stand up but the smoke was too thick. Elon Musk collapsed in the middle of the hall, his face purple, unable to breathe. The scene was so haunting that we were trembling and couldn’t pull him out in time.” In the constant flash of paparazzi who had squeezed in from the side door, the image of firefighters wearing oxygen masks rushing in added to the chaos.
Paramedics arrived a few minutes later. Elon Musk was taken out, his body covered in ash, an oxygen mask covering his face, his chest heaving with each compression. The ambulance siren resounded through the night, taking him to the nearest hospital surrounded by police and a crowd of panicked, screaming fans.
In the emergency room, the ICU was brightly lit, monitors blaring as his heart rate plummeted. Doctors repeatedly shocked him, “clear!” ringing, his body jerking under the current. Nurses sweated, tears rolling down their cheeks as they saw his heart still stopping intermittently. “We did everything we could,” a doctor said, his voice choking. Finally, at 20:42, Elon Musk was declared dead. The news spread like lightning.
Within minutes, social media exploded. The hashtags #PrayForElon and #GoodbyeMusk climbed straight to the top of trending on Twitter and TikTok. In New York, the giant screen in Times Square suddenly turned to white text: “Farewell, Elon Musk.” In Tokyo, thousands of people carried candles in the shape of his name. In Paris, in front of the Eiffel Tower, fans placed white flowers and Tesla flags covered the square.
The grief did not stop there. Because the crowd in front of SpaceX’s gate was so large, the iron fence collapsed, many fans were injured in the jostling. Ambulances had to come to the rescue, and police erected new barriers. At night, a sea of bright candles stretched along the entire block, turning the industrial area into a “cemetery of light.”
Global technology leaders spoke out one after another. Tim Cook wrote: “A technology genius has fallen.” The US president declared a national day of mourning for technology. At Cape Canaveral, all NASA and SpaceX engineers bowed their heads in silence, and the test rocket quietly landed on the platform.
Musk’s family issued a brief statement: “He passed away while living his passion.” Relatives wept beside the coffin covered with white flowers, sobs mingling with prayers. Humanity had lost a man who dared to challenge the universe, and tonight, the sky seemed darker.
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