Tech billionaire Elon Musk has branded Thai cave rescuer Vern Unsworth a "pedo" in a baseless attack after the British diver dismissed a submarine he built for the rescue as a publicity "stunt".
"It just had absolutely no chance of working. He had no conception of what the cave passage was like ... He can stick his submarine where it hurts," Mr Unsworth told CNN on Saturday.
This prompted Mr Musk to hit back in a sting of tweets on Sunday, detailing his recent trip to the Thai cave.
"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," he said.
"Never saw this British expat guy who lives in Thailand (sus) at any point when we were in the caves ... Sorry pedo guy."
Source: Twitter
The tweets have since been deleted.
Mr Unsworth was part of an international team of cave-diving experts who rescued the group of 12 teenage boys and their coach last week. The "Wild Boars" football team and the coach had been stuck in the cave since June 23.
During the cave saga, Mr Musk flew to Thailand with a prototype mini-submarine the help rescue the boys.
But with the sub not needed, he tweeted on Tuesday, "Just returned from Cave 3. Mini-sub is ready if needed. It is made of rocket parts & named Wild Boar after kids' soccer team. Leaving here in case it may be useful in the future".
The "Wild Boars" and their coach are recovering in hospital in Chiang Rai and due to be discharged on July 19.
