A peaceful morning in Nevada suddenly turned into an unprecedented disaster. The Tesla Gigafactory building, a giant symbol of the electric battery industry, was suddenly shaken by a thunderous explosion. In the blink of an eye, a column of fire rose dozens of meters high, black smoke billowed into the desert sky. Glass panels shattered, the roof collapsed, hundreds of workers fled in panic.
A horrified witness recounted: “I saw Elon Musk standing right near the battery test area, smoke and fire engulfed everything. He tried to run but couldn’t make it in time. The scene was like the end of the world, surrounded by flames and the sound of metal cracking.”
Firefighters and rescuers arrived within minutes. Sirens howled, ambulances lined up, and rescue helicopters hovered overhead. But all efforts were thwarted: the giant steel roof collapsed, blocking the way, and the temperature was so high that even water cannons only made the fire more intense. A firefighter gasped: “We are helpless, the fire is too big, no one can go further.”
Amidst the black smoke, paramedics pulled a few workers out, their faces blackened, coughing. They screamed: “Elon is still in there!” The crowd cried, many fans gathered outside the gate, holding their phones to livestream in despair. Paparazzi flashed continuously, images of white-covered stretchers gradually appeared.
An hour later, Musk’s body was found in the main battery compartment area. Medical staff rushed in, performing CPR, chest compressions continuously, and oxygen masks were quickly taken. The defibrillator made a “clear!” sound, his body jerked and then became still. The red monitor flashed, and his heartbeat stopped. The head doctor of the emergency room bowed his head and confirmed: “He did not make it.”
The bad news spread like lightning. New York halted Nasdaq trading for 10 minutes of silence. In Tokyo, Tesla fans lined up thousands of toy cars to spell out “Elon.” Paris erected an electronic screen on the Arc de Triomphe that read: “Merci, Elon.”
In California, thousands of people flocked to Tesla headquarters, a sea of candles stretched across the city. The hashtags #PrayForElon and #GoodbyeMusk flooded social media, and videos of fans crying in front of the Gigafactory gate reached millions of views in just a few hours.
The double incident added to the tragedy: due to the crowd pushing into the scene, a secondary wall in the factory suddenly collapsed a second time, injuring many fans and reporters. Rescue vehicles had to return, and chaos enveloped the entire industrial park.
On that tragic night, SpaceX and Tesla both flew their flags at half-mast. Musk’s family sent out a short message: “He passed away in the passion he created.” And the world realized: the symbol of technological ambition had fallen amid the flames of the batteries he once considered the future of humanity.
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