Elon Musk has apologized for calling a British caver who helped rescue 12 Thai boys from a cave a "pedo", retracting a comment that had drawn widespread outrage and briefly sent shares in Tesla tumbling.
Tesla CEO Musk issued the apology on Wednesday to Vernon Unsworth, who worked on the rescue of the "Wild Boars" football team and had ridiculed Musk's plan to recover the trapped group using a miniature submarine.
"(H)is actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader," Musk wrote on Twitter. "The fault is mine and mine alone."
"Pedo" is short for pedophile.
Musk's extraordinary tirade against Unsworth was widely condemned, raising concerns over the entrepreneur's leadership following a series of previous social media attacks on Wall Street analysts, journalists and employees.
His row with Unsworth began after the British caving expert dismissed Musk's plan to rescue the Thai football team from the Tham Luang cave as a "PR stunt".
Unsworth had said the plan to use the device to extract the boys through a narrow series of twisting, flooded tunnels would have had "absolutely no chance of working".
He added that Musk could "stick his submarine where it hurts".
Writing on Twitter on Wednesday, Musk said his words against Unsworth had been "spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub".
The submarine "had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader", Musk said, before apologizing to Unsworth.
Unsworth, who lives part of the year in Thailand, took part in the gargantuan 18-day effort to retrieve the 12 boys and their coach, a mission that ended on July 10 when the last five members were extracted.
The boys are all in good health and were released from hospital Wednesday, telling a packed press conference their rescue was a "miracle".
Musk's "pedo" tweet caused Tesla's shares to fall Monday, although they have since recovered the losses.
Unsworth earlier told AFP he may take legal action against Musk over the offensive tweet, which was sent to more than 20 million followers of the entrepreneur's official account.
He declined to comment when contacted by AFP on Wednesday.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
CHIANG RAI, Thailand- All 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped for more than two weeks deep inside a flooded Thai cave have been rescued, a Thai navy SEAL unit said on Tuesday, a successful end to a perilous mission that has gripped the world.
"The 12 Wild Boars and coach have emerged from the cave and they are safe," the SEAL unit said on its official Facebook page.
The "Wild Boars" soccer team and their coach got trapped on June 23 while exploring the cave complex in the northern province of Chiang Rai after soccer practice and a rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels.
Coach of Thai boys trapped in cave offers apology to parents
British divers found the 13, hungry and huddled in darkness on a muddy bank in a partly flooded chamber several kilometers inside the complex, on Monday last week.
After pondering for days how to get the 13 out, a rescue operation was launched on Sunday when four of the boys were brought out, tethered to rescue divers.
Another four were rescued on Monday and the last four boys and the coach were brought out on Tuesday.
Celebrations will be tinged with sadness over the loss of a former Thai navy diver who died last Friday while on a re-supply mission inside the cave in support of the rescue.
The last five were brought out of the cave on stretchers, one by one over the course of Tuesday, and taken by helicopter to hospital.
Three members of the SEAL unit and an army doctor, who has stayed with the boys since they were found, were the last people due to come out of the cave, the unit said.
Officials have not been commenting on the rescue mission as it has been taking place, so it was not clear what condition those brought out on Tuesday were in.
The eight boys brought out on Sunday and Monday were in good health overall and some asked for chocolate bread for breakfast, officials said earlier.
Two of the boys had suspected lung infections but the four boys from the first group rescued were all walking around in hospital.
Authorities have not confirmed the identity of the rescued boys and some of their parents said they had not been told who had been brought out. They were not allowed to visit the hospital where the boys were taken.
The rescued boys had not been identified out of respect for the families whose sons were still trapped, officials had said.
The boys were still being quarantined from their parents because of the risk of infection and would likely be kept in hospital for a week to undergo tests, officials said earlier on Tuesday.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
