THREE days after electricity cables in the Gangxia area of Futian District were broken by workers at the construction site of Gangxiabei Metro Station, a water pipeline in Longgang District was damaged by workers at another construction project of Metro Line 10 on Tuesday.

The Shenzhen Metro Co. said in a statement in response to the water pipeline damage that the negligence of the project contractor who failed to conduct a thorough check of the underground layout of the water pipeline in Buji was to blame for the damage.

According to the Metro company, it was committed by a different contractor from those who were responsible for the blackout.

One staffer from the Metro company said Wednesday that the water pipeline damage took place at the construction site of Metro Line 10. The staffer claimed that “it was not a common incident.”

Water supply to about 50,000 residents in the neighborhood was suspended for seven hours.

Zhang Lijun, security director of the Metro Line 10 project, said that the construction plans they received for the underground pipelines did not match the actual location of the pipelines, which is to blame for the accident.

On July 5 and 7, seven electricity cables were broken near the construction site of Gangxiabei Metro Station, causing a blackout for thousands of residents in the neighborhood.

According to previous media reports citing sources with the city’s power supply bureau, a total of 11 cables were damaged at metro construction sites in the first half of the year. Since 2015, Metro construction teams have caused damage to as many as 35 electricity cables in Futian District alone.

The accident in which seven electricity cables were cut, resulting in blackouts from July 5 to 7, enraged the local electricity supply bureau.

(Zhang Qian)