Elon Musk's Thai cave rescue bid: billionaire reveals plans to build 'tiny kid-sized submarine' to save remaining boys

Alexandra Richards16 July 2018

Elon Musk has created a mini submarine that he believes could be used to rescue the remaining boys trapped in a cave in Thailand.

The CEO of Space X and the Boring Company announced that engineers from both companies were working on a “tiny, kid-sized submarine” constructed from parts of the Falcon 9 rocket to get the boys out.

The construction of the mini submarine began after engineers travelled to Thailand to assist with the rescue of the boys from the Tham Luang cave complex.

The boys have been stranded for two weeks after becoming trapped when the caves flooded.

Mr Musk announced the plans to build a submarine in a tweet where he claimed it would be “light enough to be carried by two divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps” and “extremely robust.”

Thailand Cave Rescue - In pictures

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He posted a video of divers testing the miniature submarine in a swimming pool in LA.

Answering questions posted by his followers, Mr Musk said engineers had created an inflatable replica of the submarine in order to test whether or not it would be small enough to fit through the narrowest parts of the cave.

“We also made an exact replica that is inflatable, so that the entire path can be tested without risk of blockage,” he said.

A spokesman for the Boring Company confirmed to The Verge that engineers from SpaceX, Tesla, and the Boring Company were working to design, build, and test pods at SpaceX.

Although rescue operations are already underway to get the boys out, Mr Musk said in a twwet engineers will continue to work on the submarine as it "could be useful in the future" and he said they will still ship it to Thailand.

On Monday the operation to rescue the remaining boys and their coach from the caves looked set to continue.

Onlookers watch and cheer as ambulances deliver the rescued boys to hospital
Getty Images

The Thai official leading the rescue operation, which has involved British divers, said it has gone "better than expected" and that the healthiest boys have been taken out first.

Thailand's interior minister says the same divers who took part in Sunday's rescue of four boys trapped in a flooded cave will also conduct the next operation as they know the cave conditions and what to do.

Emergency vehicles were seen heading towards hospital after two of the boys were rescued
Getty Images

The rescue operation depends on the weather conditions which could affect the water levels inside the cave.

Heavy rain hit the area on Sunday night, with storms forecast throughout the week for the northern Chiang Rai province.

Boys pictured inside the cave 
Thai Navy SEALs via Getty Images

Meteorologists estimated a 60 per cent chance of rain in the area on Monday.

It was not immediately known how rainfall had impacted water levels inside the caves where an international rescue effort is being staged.

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