New Delhi, Oct. 20 -- China on Sunday issued a blue typhoon alert for tropical storm Fengshen, with it expected to intensify into a severe tropical storm or even a typhoon.

Fengshen is currently classified as a tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds of 82 kilometres per hour, and with its wind field extending 220 to 280 kilometers from the centre.

If Fengshen intensifies into a typhoon, wind speeds are expected to reach 126 kilometres per hour.

The alert by Chinese authorities came after seven people were reported killed in the northern and central Philippines (where the storm is known as Ramil) over the weekend as Fengshen battered the region, the 18th tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year.

Five of the deaths took p...