Last October, we reported that in the latest, at the time, conflagration involving a Tesla car bursting into flames, a Model S burned to a crisp after an accident on an Austrian highway. The car's 19-year-old female driver had entered a construction zone on the highway, and when she tried to shift from the local to the fast lane, the car lost control and hit the concrete divider wall along the side of the road. A moment later the electric car burst into flames. It was unclear if the autopilot was involved in the crash, but the the good news was that the driver survived the dramatic crash largely unscathed.

Unfortunately, in a similar crash on Friday, the driver was not so lucky.

Driving on Highway 101 near Mountain View, California, a Tesla Model X suffered a gruesome crash when the vehicle hit a carpool lane barrier, leading two more cars to crash into it, and causing the lithium ion batteries powering the vehicle to ignite and explode, at which point the vehicle burst into flames. 

Here are the details according to the Redwood City CHP: the blue Tesla was driving southbound on Highway 101 at freeway speeds near Highway 85, when it collided with a barrier separating the carpool lanes on both roads and caught fire. The burning car was then hit by a Mazda and an Audi.

"We saw a big cloud of smoke and then all of a sudden, there was a fire ball in the air," witness Aiden Sanchez said.

The driver of the Tesla was then taken to Stanford hospital. Tragically, the California Highway Patrol announced later on Friday that the driver had died from his injuries.

According to a timeline of occurrences, the cause of death appears that the driver was "trapped" inside the burning car.

Timeline of occurrences releases, Tesla investigators are on scene - https://t.co/KvRgMMTYX6 pic.twitter.com/GR01EhswuE

— InsideEVs (@InsideEVs) March 24, 2018

No other injuries were reported.

Images from the scene showed the front of the Tesla completely destroyed as firefighters tried to get the fire out. Crews were still on the scene cleaning up as of noon.

Police told the local NBC affiliate that the car's battery may have been involved in the explosion: "We're used to regular vehicles, now that we have the batteries in these vehicles, we don’t know what’s in them so we're learning as we go," said CHP officer Art Montiel.

#DEVELOPING CHP waiting for @Tesla to arrive on scene of US 101 crash bc officers don’t know what Tesla battery contains @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/pefw1gyrQt

— Anoushah Rasta (@Anoushah_Rasta) March 23, 2018

As they responded to the scene, officers were wary of the batteries. They called for backup before approaching the car, which may also have been the reason why the "trapped" passenger died inside the burning Model X.

There's nothing left of the Tesla Model X and unfortunately the driver has passed. - https://t.co/KvRgMMTYX6 pic.twitter.com/fkwtdHT3TH

— InsideEVs (@InsideEVs) March 23, 2018

Footage from the crash shows smoke and flames emanating from the vehicle.