Ex-lawmaker held over collapse
Print Edition
A FORMER lawmaker was arrested yesterday after an 18-meter-deep basement illegally dug under a historic courtyard he owns in Beijing caved in, causing surrounding buildings to collapse.
Prosecutors from Xicheng District said Li Baojun, who was deputy to the People’s Congress of Xuzhou City, in east China’s Jiangsu Province, was suspected of causing a major safety accident, China Central TV reported.
It was not reported what the basement was to be used for.
On January 24, the basement, dug beneath a courtyard with homes around it, caved in, causing four buildings to collapse and a huge hole to appear.
No one was hurt but 15 families were relocated, reported Beijing TV news.
CCTV reported that the basement was about 130 square meters, while Li’s courtyard was 190 square meters.
Overwhelmed by subsequent media attention, the 59-year-old, who suffers from high blood pressure, was hospitalized.
In an interview with CCTV from his hospital bed earlier this month, Li said he had resigned as a member of the Xuzhou People’s Congress.
“I will accept responsibility and will make every effort to compensate those affected,” Li said.
Li bought the courtyard in 2009 and began building the basement without permission.
The authorities ordered him to stop the illegal work last July.
But Li turned to blind eye to construction continuing, CCTV reported.
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