A GROUP of jobless people have found a new money-making scheme: pushing cars out of a pool of floodwater in a pedestrian tunnel following heavy rain.
Unemployed people gather at the spot, at the exit of Tongle Station on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway, during heavy rain, and wait for cars to break down when driving through the pool. They then demand a high fee from drivers in exchange for pushing them out, the Daily Sunshine reported yesterday.
The 100-meter-long tunnel connects Dabao Road and Gaoxinqi Industrial Zone in Bao an District.
One driver, identified as Chen, said the water had remained in the tunnel for six months. Those who walked through the tunnel had to roll up their trousers.
The water was chest deep after heavy rains in June, said Wang Jun, a local resident who uses the tunnel.
One South Korean businessman who had his car pushed out Sunday said he paid local people 1,100 yuan (US$166) for their help.
He was returning to his office after a business meeting and his car became stuck in the pool.
According to a security guard, most of the people were unemployed and made a living by running illegal electric bike services. They charged from several hundred to more than 1,000 yuan to push cars out of the pool.
Urban administration officers had been asked to deal with the matter but the problem was still unresolved.
(Han Ximin, Kevin Zhou)
