Popular football league tournament in Jiangsu thrills fans, drives tourist spending

The popular, ongoing provincial football league tournament held across East China's Jiangsu Province - the "Su Super League" - has attracted millions of sports enthusiasts and tourists, with host cities launching creative programs to cater to them, boosting local vibrancy and the economy.

In Yancheng City - one of the dozen hosting cities, football enthusiasts can easily enjoy a range of exclusive benefits, including free access to the city's all A-level scenic spots and a half-price discount on designated hotel stays, with their purchased football ticket at a mere 10 yuan (around 1.4 U.S. dollars).

"In the city, with the ticket stubs of the game, not only can we get discounts when dining, but also receive exclusive gifts for fans. It's truly treating us, the fans from other places, like VIPs," said a football fan from Huai'an.

Around the Yancheng Olympic Sports Center, the main venue of the event in the city's high-tech zone, businesses are booming. Bars, restaurants, and hotels are packed because of the amateur football league. Many businesses have launched special offers, pleasing consumers and city government.

"During the competition, the occupancy rate of our hotel reached 100 percent. Meanwhile, we have introduced various discounted room packages, and guests presenting their match tickets can enjoy a complimentary buffet from 9:00 to 12:00. Additionally, we offer four different varieties of late-night congee until 1:00," said Xie Haibo, general manager of Intercontinental Yancheng Gangfu.

Popular football league tournament in Jiangsu thrills fans, drives tourist spending

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight