Elon Musk offers his technology, engineers to help save Thai soccer team trapped in cave
Billionaire "techbro" Elon Musk wants to help rescue the youth soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand, so he is sending his SpaceX and Boring Company engineers overseas to offer their support, Fortune reports. "I suspect that the Thai govt has this under control," Musk tweeted, "but am happy to help if there is a way to do so."
Musk admitted that "there are probably many complexities that are hard to appreciate without being there in person," although he is evidently eyeing the possibility of assisting in pumping water out of the cave. It won't be the first time Musk has offered his help in a disaster situation: His companies' technology and infrastructure support were used in Puerto Rico after last year's hurricane.
Rescuing the soccer team and their coach has proven to be exceedingly difficult, especially since many of the boys can't swim and it takes expert cave divers to reach the ledge where the team became trapped after flash flooding. A former Thai Navy SEAL died early Friday morning after he ran out of oxygen while placing air tanks in the cave for a potential rescue mission.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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