WITHIN an area of less than 200 square meters, two adjacent apartments were renovated into 11 individual rental rooms at a residential compound in Luohu District, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

    A resident living near the illegally renovated apartments tipped off the Daily due to safety concerns.

    The apartments are located on the 32nd floor of a building in the residential compound. One of the apartments is 107 square meters while the other is supposed to be a two-bedroom apartment, but the owner combined the two apartments into one with 11 individual rooms.

    Under the instruction of the unnamed whistleblower, a reporter arrived at the two apartments to find that in one of the larger apartments there were eight different-sized rooms. A narrow, dimly lit corridor with an odor of stale air separated the eight rooms down the middle.

    A small space at the end of the corridor functioned as both the kitchen and bathroom. On a wall of the corridor hung eight electricity meters, each displaying the electricity usage of each room.

    The door of the other apartment was closed. According to the whistleblower, the smaller apartment had been renovated into three rental rooms.

    “Dozens of people living in such a narrow space would be extremely dangerous if a fire or other accident were to take place here,” said the resident. He said that he did not even dare to think about the consequences.

    The other residents living there said that the “apartments inside apartments” had started to appear in this residential compound in 2013. Although the residents had made many reports to relevant government departments and turned to media for exposure, the problems were never properly addressed or dealt with.

    An accident occurred this Spring Festival when four people died in a fire at an apartment in another housing estate with the same problem in Luohu District.

    The residents are worried that the same tragedy may happen to them.

    During the past few months, relevant departments have responded, saying that they were making plans to urge the landlord to return his apartments to the way they were previously, but no consequential actions have been taken.

    (Zhang Qian)