Jeez, the group is really really inside the cave, does anyone know if that was their intention or if they did so trying to escape from the flood?

The group of teenagers escaped from their supervisor into the cave without his permission. The supervisor went to look for them, they all got trapped there by the flood. Someone found their shoes in front of cave entrance.

That's the first I heard this piece of the story. Source?

How did they manage to get so deep just by themselves? Maybe easier to get down than to go back? :(

That is a great illustration! Thank you.

Only thing that would have made it better is if the cross sections showed water levels.

Dont take it too literally. Cave maps, paticularlythose under water, are hand-drawn. They cover key features needed for navigation but are not considered accurate for dimensions. Travel time means far more than accurate distances where underwater currents get involved. This is a large part of the digging problem: lining up the eyeballed drawing with an exact spot on the surface.

Cross-section: https://twitter.com/JamesWorldSpace/status/10151317727433687...

Another version: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/methode%2Ftimes...

Why do people assume everything Elon does is a marketing/PR ploy? People said the same thing when Elon put his car in space. Pretty pessimistic view of humanity imo if you think people can't do something out of moral conscience. Not sure what Tesla has to do with saving Taiwanese out of a cave and boring company wont be operational for years.

You're really fighting against yourself by bringing up the space Tesla—an example with absolutely no humanitarian justification. The choice of a Tesla as a 'test' payload was 100% a marketing exercise and I do not know how anyone could argue otherwise (or if they have). There was no scientific or logistical benefit to using a Tesla, and in the bazar universe where it is, SpaceX's marketing machine spruced it well.

cool

Entrepreneurs often do do this sort of thing. for example Andrew Forrest (Australian Mining Billionaire) has offered and assisted many times for disasters (bush fires, MH370 serach etc).

Seems to be something that driven guys just do

I found his comments about them just walking out through a bouncy castle tube, or his flip remark about being good at digging holes, less than useful. He clearly doesnt understand the forces and dimensions involved. This isnt sunny/dry california.

Can you explain why? I think it's a smart idea, except getting the tube that size/strength of course...

Such a tube would need to be pressurized to the depth of the deepest water. It would also block the flow of water through pinch points, deepening and accelerating that water. Where is this magic tube? Then imagine trying to handle this pressurized tube in not-deep and/or dry parts of the cave. It is pure fantasy.

A man died bringing an oxygen tank through this cave. Pulling 10,000lb rubber tube through that same hole?