A man plans to claim compensation from his neighbor after burglars knocked a large hole into his apartment wall from next door, Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

Victim Xiao Xiaoliang told police he lost nearly 14,000 yuan (US$2,050) in cash and jewelry.

Xiao arrived at his home in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, about 7:50pm on Friday to find his house ransacked, with drawers pulled out of cabinets. Although all the doors and locks were intact, he found a huge pile of rubble on his floor and a hole in his wall big enough to admit an adult.

The apartment next door is a 114-square-meter unit belonging to a man surnamed Zeng, who reportedly subdivided the space and rented it to two families.

Zeng said he had rented the room next to Xiao's to a woman from Hunan Province but she had ended the lease on September 2.

(Shanghai Daily September 14, 2009)