Two workers working near the Great Wall of China were arrested for digging a hole in the monument to drive their excavator through, causing “irreversible damage”.
Two people have been arrested in China on suspicion of digging a hole using an excavator in the Great Wall, state channel CCTV reported on Tuesday. According to information from the BBC, the two individuals involved are a 55-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man, both employed as construction workers near the wall.
During their interrogation, the two employees admitted that they wanted to create a shortcut to get their excavator through and thus reduce the duration of their journeys, according to CCTV.
“Irreversible” damage
The police in the province of Shanxi (north-east of the country) followed the traces of the device which was used by the two suspects to create a hole through the 32nd Great Wall of the monument, listed since 1987 as a world heritage site. Unesco.
The police were alerted as early as August 24 by multiple reports highlighting that a large hole had been spotted in this part of the Ming Great Wall, the most popular and best preserved part of the monument, located in the Youyu County.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that the two suspects had caused “irreversible damage” to the wall, a remnant of military fortifications built by Chinese emperors to deter foreign invaders.
More than 30% of the wall has disappeared
According to a report dating from 2016 and revealed by the daily Beijing Timesmore than 30% of the Great Wall has completely disappeared, while only 8% of the wall is considered to be “well preserved”.
The oldest parts, dating back thousands of years, were at the time of their construction made of adobe, mud walls, and appear today as simple mounds difficult to recognize as the Great Wall of China.
Much of the deterioration of the wall has been attributed to the theft of bricks or stones by local farmers to build houses or animal enclosures, according to the BBC.
Source: BFM TV
