Exhausted football fans die while watching World Cup in China

USPA News - At least four people, including an unborn child, have died of exhaustion and related illnesses in China over the past few days after football fans stayed up for days to watch FIFA World Cup matches overnight, state-run media reported on Wednesday. The latest victim of China`s football craze was the two-months-old fetus of a 26-year-old woman who stayed up for four consecutive nights to watch football matches on television.

She was watching Germany vs. Portugal on Tuesday morning when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. The state-run Xinhua news agency said the young woman was rushed to a local hospital where she suffered a miscarriage. Staying up all night to watch World Cup matches, televised live from Brazil, has also caused the sudden deaths of at least three football fans in China. The time difference means Chinese people have to stay awake overnight to watch the games, which start at midnight, 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Beijing time. When the games end, the work day begins. A 51-year-old man from the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian was one of the first victims after his heart failed while he was watching Netherlands vs. Spain with friends on early Saturday. A 25-year-old man from Suzhou was found dead in his room that same morning with his TV set still showing football matches. A 39-year-old man from Shanghai died on Sunday after spending three nights in a row watching World Cup matches. The FIFA World Cup began on June 12 and will end on July 13. China`s national team only once participated in the World Cup, in 2002, but many football crazed fans pick a second "home team" from top teams such as Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.