Construction workers arrested after bulldozing part of the Great Wall of China

Two construction workers have been arrested after they caused “irreversible damage” to the Great Wall of China.

Two people have been arrested in northern China after they allegedly bulldozed a section of the Great Wall of China to create a shortcut.

The construction workers — a 38-year-old man and 55-year-old woman — reportedly dug a hole in the 32nd Wall of the ancient landmark as a way to save time going around it.

According to AFP, the pair admitted under questioning that they had used a digger to create the shortcut, with police describing the structure as “severely damaged”.

Construction workers seeking shortcut carve hole in China’s Great Wall, officials say. Picture: Youyu Public Security Bureau

“Excavators were used to excavate the original gap of the ancient Great Wall into a large gap, so that the excavator could pass through the gap, which caused irreversible damage to the integrity of the Ming Great Wall and the safety of cultural relics,” a police statement read.

The two suspects were detained pending further investigation, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The two workers were arrested after bulldozing part of the Great Wall of China. Picture: Youyu Public Security Bureau

The County Public Security Bureau Command Centre was alerted to the incident at about 4.20pm on August 24 after they received an alarm saying that a gap had been dug in the Thirty-Two Great Wall in Yang Qianhe Township.

Police say it has caused ‘irreversible damage’. Picture: Youyu Public Security Bureau

“The Criminal Investigation Team quickly rushed to the scene. After inspecting the traces on the scene, the police initially determined that the ancient Great Wall was damaged due to excavation by large machinery,” the police statement read.

“Subsequently, the police patrolled the line and found an excavator and a man and a woman in neighbouring counties.

“After on-site questioning, it was found that the ancient Great Wall was destroyed by the two people. The police summoned the two people back to the county public security bureau for further investigation.”

Construction of the Great Wall, which is split into sections that in total stretch for thousands of kilometres, first began in the third century BC and continued for centuries.

The section of the Great Wall affected, situated about a six-hour drive west of central Beijing, dates back to China’s Ming Dynasty of the 14th through 17th centuries.

– with AFP