Elon Musk’s Boring Company Halts Las Vegas Tunnel Expansion After Reported Worker Injury
Elon Musk’s tunneling venture, The Boring Company, has temporarily suspended operations at one of its Las Vegas sites following a serious workplace accident, according to a new report from Fortune. The stoppage comes after a worker sustained what officials described as a “crushing injury” late Wednesday night.
Emergency dispatchers reportedly received a call around 10:12 p.m. about an “industrial/machinery incident.” When first responders arrived, they were told that a worker had suffered severe trauma inside the tunnel. An 18-person rescue crew was deployed, ultimately using a crane to lift the injured worker from the site before transporting them to a nearby hospital. The individual is said to be in stable condition, though the full extent of their injuries remains unclear. The Clark County Fire Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The accident occurred inside a tunnel currently being expanded to connect Las Vegas’ growing underground network to Harry Reid International Airport. The Boring Company first opened its 1.5-mile convention center tunnel in 2021, marketed as the beginning of Musk’s ambitious “Loop” system — once envisioned as high-speed autonomous pods traveling at over 600 miles per hour. That plan has since been scaled down. Today, passengers are shuttled at roughly 35 mph in standard Teslas with human drivers, far from the futuristic vision originally promised.
The company now operates 3.5 miles of tunnels beneath the city and has secured approvals to build up to 68 miles. The latest expansion aims to transform the Loop into a citywide transit network.
This isn’t the first time The Boring Company has faced scrutiny over workplace safety. Investigations by ProPublica, Bloomberg, and Fortune revealed at least eight citations from Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration in recent years, including a major concrete collapse near the Las Vegas Convention Center. Following several injuries in 2024, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reportedly stepped in with a more aggressive approach to enforcing safety protocols.
As of Thursday, The Boring Company has not commented on the latest incident. Gizmodo will update this story as more details become available.