Elon Musk “can stick his submarine where it hurts”, says Thai cave diver

Speaking to CNN, a British driver involved in the rescue of the boys’ soccer team in Thailand has expressed his feelings about entrepreneur Elon Musk, who had his engineering team design and build a small submarine for the rescue efforts.

He “can stick his submarine where it hurts”, said Vern Unsworth, adding that in his opinion the submarine wouldn’t have made it 50 metres into the cave and it was “just a PR stunt.”

“The submarine, I believe, was about 5 foot 6 long, rigid, so it wouldn’t have gone round corners or round any obstacles.”

While many have applauded Musk’s efforts, naming his a real-life Tony Stark for his desire to help others, he’s also been heavily criticised for his involvement. In response to criticism from media outlets, Musk tweeted: “based on extensive cave video review & discussion with several divers who know journey, SpaceX engineering is absolutely certain that mini-sub can do entire journey & demonstrate at any time.”

“This reaction has shaken my opinion of many people,” he added, in reply to a user who defended him. “We were asked to create a backup option & worked hard to do so. Checked with dive team many times to confirm it was worthwhile. Now it’s there for anyone who needs it in future. Something’s messed up if this is not a good thing.”