HANOI, Vietnam - At least 150 Vietnamese fishermen were missing at sea and another 28 were found dead after their boats presumably sank during Typhoon Chanchu, a border official said Friday.

A total of 11 boats carrying 221 fishermen from the central city of Danang sank during the typhoon, and at least some of the men were unaccounted for, said Nguyen Ba Luong, a border control officer.

It was unclear when the boats sank, but their last communication was around noon Wednesday, Luong said.

On Friday, 60 people were pulled from the water alive and 24 were found dead, he said. It was unclear whether they had been on the 11 boats that sank.

The survivors were located somewhere between Taiwan and the Philippines and have made contact with authorities.

In a separate incident, another group of fishermen from Quang Ngai province also got into trouble during the storm. Four bodies were pulled from the water, while one person was found alive.

The search continued for 22 others still missing after their boats sank in Chinese waters, said Nguyen Sau of the Quang Ngai border control.

"If they have lifeboats, the possibility of them being alive and rescued is higher," Sau said of the missing, adding that the weather has improved but the sea was still rough.

Vietnam has asked China to help search for the missing, and to allow the Vietnamese fishermen to patrol area to look for survivors, Sau said.

Chanchu cut a path of destruction across several countries and territories around the South China Sea since rising to typhoon strength and tearing through the Philippines last weekend.

The Asia-wide death toll from Chanchu has reached 91, including 37 in the Philippines and the latest 28 in Vietnam.

Chanchu was downgraded to a tropical storm as it reached China's heavily populated southern coast Thursday but was still powerful enough to cause landslides and flooding, forcing the evacuation of more than 1 million people.

Nearly 100,000 ships were ordered to return to harbor, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Storm-induced landslides and building collapses killed 15 people in Fujian province and left four missing, the provincial Water Resources Department said on its Web site.

Eight more died in neighboring Guangdong province, it said, including a boy and girl and their 68-year-old grandfather, all crushed when their home collapsed.

Fujian estimated storm damage at $480 million. There was no immediate word on damage estimates in Guangdong.

In Taiwan, two women were swept to their deaths by floods in the southern region of Pingtung.

High waves also swept away three 17-year-old male students swimming in Japan's southern Okinawa island chain, leaving one dead and another missing, said coast guard spokesman Shoji Kawabata. The third was rescued.

The storm was headed toward northern Japan on Friday and was expected to weaken but bring heavy rain and possible flooding.

Associated Press reporter Christopher Bodeen in Shanghai, China, contributed to this report.