A recent sinkhole that swallowed four houses in downtown Beijing was caused by the illegal construction of a basement owned by a National People's Congress deputy of a city in east China, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Illegal construction of a basement in Beijing causes the collapse of four neighboring homes. [Photo: Xinhua/Cankaoxiaoxi]

In 2010, Li Baojun, a deputy of the Municipal People's Congress of Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province bought four houses in a courtyard near the Deshengmen tower in downtown Beijing. He secretly built an 18-meter-deep basement in the yard even though authorities stopped him in July 2014.

On Jan. 24, a sinkhole 15 meters long, five meters wide and 10 meters deep appeared in the road outside Li's courtyard and swallowed up four houses nearby. No one was injured, but 15 people were left homeless in the accident.

Li is president of Haiying Group, a Jiangsu-based private corporation with businesses in many fields such as auto parts manufacturing and advertising.

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