A British cave diver who was instrumental in the rescue of 12 children trapped in a northern Thailand cave says he is considering legal action after the inventor Elon Musk called him a “pedo” on Twitter.
Vernon Unsworth, 63, told the Guardian on Monday he was “astonished and very angry” at the attack, for which Musk offered no evidence or basis. The billionaire initially doubled down on the comments made on social media, but has since deleted them.
Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue 'pedo' in baseless attack
Unsworth told journalists at the cave site, where a clean-up operation is underway, the remarks about him were an attack on the entire rescue crew.
“I believe he’s called me a pedophile,” he said. “I think people realise what sort of guy [Musk] is.”
Asked if he would consider taking legal action against Musk, he told reporters: “Yes, it’s not finished.”
Musk was angrily responding to an interview Unsworth gave on Sunday in which he said a child-sized submarine the Tesla chief executive delivered to the cave site last week “had absolutely no chance of working”.
“He had no conception of what the cave passage was like,” Unsworth said in the interview. “The submarine, I believe, was about 5ft 6in long, rigid, so it wouldn’t have gone round corners or round any obstacles.”
In a bizarre series of tweets on Sunday, Musk said he would produce a video proving his submarine would have been able to reach the children and in a comment directed at Unsworth, added: “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.”
When a Twitter user pointed out that Musk was “calling the guy who found the children a pedo”, the billionaire responded: “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true.” Both tweets have since been deleted.
Unsworth, who lives in Thailand, was among the first cave divers on the scene in Mae Sai after the boys from the Wild Boars football team and their coach became trapped inside on 23 June.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...cave-rescue-stunned-after-attack-by-elon-musk
