Sharjah24 – AFP: Nine people are dead and two others missing after floods in Sri Lanka and parts of southern India caused by more than a week of pounding rains.

Nearly half of Sri Lanka's 25 districts have been hit by the deluge, with the worst affected areas in and around the island's tea-growing Central Highlands.

"Five deaths and two disappearances were reported" across Sri Lanka since the rains began at the end of October, Pradeep Kodippili of the island's disaster management agency said on Monday.

More floods are likely in the coming days with downpours set to move to the country's northern coast around the city of Jaffna, the country's weather bureau warned.