Tesla CEO Elon Musk has accused Vernon Unsworth, one of the divers participating in the rescue of the 12 boys from a flooded Thai cave complex, of being a pedophile as a response to the diver’s criticisms on Musk’s contribution to the rescue effort.

Unsworth said in an interview with CNN that the custom-made submarine Musk personally delivered to the caves was pretty much worthless and that it was just a PR stunt.

“He can stick his submarine where it hurts,” Unsworth said during the interview. “It just had absolutely no chance of working. He had no conception of what the cave passage was like. The submarine, I believe, was about five-foot-six long, rigid, so it wouldn’t have gone round corners or round any obstacles.”


“It wouldn’t have made it the first 50 meters into the cave from the dive start point,” Unsworth added. “Just a PR stunt… He was asked to leave very quickly, and so he should have been.”

It didn’t take long for Musk to respond to Unsworth’s criticisms. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO referred to him as “British expat guy who lives in Thailand (sus)” and said that he never saw him during his time at the cave complex. Musk then argued that the water level was very low before things quickly derailed.

Musk said that he would prove the sub’s ability by sending it into the cave complex, ending his tweet by saying “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it”.

When another Twitter user pointed out that Musk was “calling the guy who found the children a pedo”, the Tesla boss responded: “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true.” These tweets have since been deleted.

According to CNN, Vernon Unsworth is the man who initially pinpointed where he thought the boys and their coach would be in the cave system, which he describes as his “second home”.  The team was found 200 meters away from that point. Unsworth spent 17 days in the caves helping with the rescue efforts.

Talking to the Guardian, Unsworth said that he was “astonished and very angry” at the baseless attack. “I believe he’s called me a pedophile,” he said. “I think people realise what sort of guy [Musk] is.”

When asked if he would consider taking legal action against Elon Musk, Unsworth said: “Yes, it’s not finished.”