Elon Musk calls British diver who helped rescue Thai schoolboys 'pedo guy' in Twitter outburst
'Bet ya a signed dollar it's true'
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Your support makes all the difference.Elon Musk has called a British diver who helped rescue schoolboys from a flooded cave in Thailand ‘pedo guy’ on Twitter.
The entrepreneur’s outburst came after diver Vern Unsworth told Mr Musk to “stick his submarine where it hurts” after describing his offer to help with a miniature submersible as a “PR stunt”.
Mr Musk travelled to the Tham Luang caverns in Chiang Rai this week and presented the six-foot submarine – which he said could help free 12 schoolboys and their football coach stranded for weeks inside the cave.
But Mr Unsworth, who was instrumental in rescuing the school football team, said the vessel the SpaceX and Tesla boss invented “had absolutely no chance of working” because the inventor “had no conception of what the cave passage was like”.
In response to criticism from the diver, Mr Musk defended his invention through a series of tweets before adding: “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.”
After facing backlash for the comment, the billionaire added: “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true.”
Mr Musk wrote on Twitter: “Never saw this British expat guy who lives in Thailand (sus) at any point when we were in the caves.
“Only people in sight were the Thai navy/army guys, who were great. Thai navy seals escorted us in – total opposite of wanting us to leave.
“Water level was actually very low & still (not flowing) – you could literally have swum to Cave 5 with no gear, which is obv how the kids got in.
“If not true, then I challenge this dude to show final rescue video.”
He then added: “You know what, don’t bother showing the video. We will make one of the mini-sub/pod going all the way to Cave 5 no problemo. Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.”
The chief of the rescue mission described the device as “not practical” for the operation, which required squeezing the boys through tight, jagged passageways.
All 13 were later rescued by divers without Mr Musk’s help, although Thai authorities said the submarine may come in useful for future missions.