Manila [Philippines], October 20 (ANI): Seven people were reported killed as Tropical Storm Fengshen, locally known as Ramil, lashed the northern and central Philippines over the weekend, local authorities said on Monday.

Meanwhile, China's national observatory on Sunday issued a blue alert for typhoon Fengshen, Xinhua reported.

The Philippines' weather bureau has forecast Fengshen to leave the country on Monday morning.

The country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), in its situational report, said seven people were killed and one person was injured due to the cyclone, the official Philippines news agency (PNA) said.

Five of the reported fatalities were from Calabarzon (Southern Tagalog) while two were from Region 6 (Western Visayas). Meanwhile, the two missing were from Western Visayas while the injured was from Calabarzon, the report said.

The storm, which lashed portions of Luzon and the Visayas over the weekend, also affected 37,852 families or 133,196 persons in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Eastern Visayas.

The storm is the 18th tropical cyclone to batter the Philippine archipelago this year. The Philippines has also been hit by earthquakes in the recent weeks.

A report in Chinese official media Xinhua stated that the typhoon is expected to move northwestward at 25-30 km per hour while gradually intensifying. From Tuesday onward, it will steer southwestward over the central and northern parts of the South China Sea, heading towards Vietnam's central coast before gradually weakening.

Affected by the typhoon, gales are forecast to affect areas including parts of the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, as well as coastal regions of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong.

Some areas of Taiwan may experience heavy rainstorms during the same period. (ANI)