A four-year-old child died in the Chinese city of Wenzhou after his family's house collapsed in heavy rains and winds, the official news agency Xinhua reported yesterday.

The child was buried along with four adults in debris and died after emergency treatment failed, Xinhua said, citing the city's flood-control headquarters.

More than 505,000 people were evacuated from the Fujian coast and another 490,000 were relocated in the neighboring province of Zhejiang, Xinhua reported. Zhejiang issued a red alert earlier yesterday as it registered a maximum wind speed of nearly 180 kph around the coastal city of Taizhou, Xinhua said.

Gale-force winds were expected to persist for at least three days and waves were forecast to reach as high as seven meters.

More than 35,000 ships were called in to port as the storm approached, Xinhua quoted Zhejiang flood-control headquarters as saying.

A cargo ship was stranded in rough seas and rescuers were trying to rescue its eight sailors, the agency reported.

Morakot also left floods and landslides in its wake after grazing the Philippines on its way to Taiwan.

The Manila government's civil defense office said the storm had left a total of 21 people dead, including two French tourists and a Belgian, with seven other people still missing.