Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and tunnel-digging firm The Boring Company, says he is “happy to help” Thai authorities attempting to rescue the junior soccer team trapped inside the flooded Tham Luang cave system.
In a message posted on Twitter, Musk said he imagines local authorities have a handle on the situation, but said he’s willing to offer the services of his companies if they’d help.
Musk added that aside from actually digging holes, The Boring Company has access to “advanced ground penetrating radar”.
Local authorities have been pumping floodwater out of the cave in an attempt to minimise the risk of extracting the children and their coach, and Musk said Tesla would also be able to provide pumps and battery packs to aid those efforts.
Boring Co has advanced ground penetrating radar & is pretty good at digging holes. Don’t know if pump rate is limited by electric power or pumps are too smal. If so, could dropship fully charged Powerpacks and pumps.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2018
Citing a Tesla spokesperson, The Sydney Morning Herald reports the company is in talks with Thai authorities, but they are not believed to have taken Musk up on his offers to help. Not yet, at least.
Thai Navy SEALs have attended to the group inside the cave, providing them with high-protein drinks and treating minor injuries. The latest reports suggest the group is in good spirits, despite the fact it may be months before they can be safely extracted from the cave.
Presently, the most likely option for the group’s rescue involves waiting for water levels to recede, or teaching the boys how to dive so they can be guided out safely.
Less likely: drilling a bloody huge hole into the cave to scoop the children and their coach out. If things do become that dire though, at least one billionaire has a tunnel-digging company at his disposal.
