The entrance to the underground passage beneath the entertainment club in the kindergarten. Photo: thepaper.cn

Authorities in South China's Shenzhen urged a construction site to suspend construction of an entertainment club which is suspected of having an underground passageway to a kindergarten after the issue provoked objection among parents, media reported.  

An underground passageway linking to an entertainment club was found hidden beneath a playground facility in the Baonengcheng Kindergarten of Shenzhen when the kindergarten hosted an open day recently, Chinese media outlet thepaper.cn reported. 

The discovery triggered many parents to be concerned of the security of the studying environment and the legality of the construction site. 

Parents are concerned about potential risks posed to the safety of children and some posted on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, expressing worries that the underground passageway that links to the entertainment club might cause child kidnapping. Some questioned whether there was a secret deal between the kindergarten and the club. 

The kindergarten now has blocked the underground passageway entrance due to the pressure from parents. The kindergarten could not be reached for comments. 

Inside the underground venue are some KTV rooms, a swimming pool and sauna houses under construction, thepaper.cn quoted a parent as saying. Above the underground club is a three-story building which is located right next to the kindergarten, separated by a wall. 

An official from the Planning and Land Supervision Bureau of Nanshan district in Shenzhen said they have ordered the construction site to suspend construction of the club and an investigation over whether the three-story building was constructed illegally is ongoing, according to the report by thepaper.cn.    

The building will be dismantled if it was an illegally-constructed building, the official said. 

The developer has started dismantling the underground entertainment club. The three-story building will be used as a supporting education and training center, the official said. 

Global Times