Elon Musk's rescue sub sent to help the cave rescue effort in Thailand was appreciated but "not practical," said the official who led the successful mission to get the young soccer players and their coach out of the winding and jagged Tham Luang cave, The Guardian reported.
Skilled divers completed their rescue of the Wild Boars academy soccer team, ranging in age from 11 to 16, on Tuesday evening, Thailand time, along with their coach, Ekaphol Chantawong, 25, inside the cave in the Doi Nang Non mountain range.
Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, reportedly traveled to Thailand with a mini submarine made of rocket parts that he hoped could have assisted in ferrying the team out of the heavily-flooded cave where they had been trapped since June 23, The Guardian said.
But the cave with its narrow passageways made it difficult for even experienced divers to make it the 1.24 miles from the main entrance to where the team was trapped, CNN reported.
"Although his technology is good and sophisticated it's not practical for this mission," Narongsak Osatanakorn, the head of the joint command center coordinating the operation, told reporters, The Guardian said.
Musk tweeted Monday that even though the submarine would not used, he planned to leave it in Thailand for future efforts.
Some on social media, though, questioned Musk's motives in bringing the mini submarine while he was praised by others for trying to help.
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