Hundreds of people violated COVID restrictions in south India to attend the funeral of a horse belonging to a local religious organization on Sunday (May 23).

The incident took place in Karnataka's Belagavi district, as villagers turned out to offer tributes to the deceased horse, before forming a procession through the village.

Following the incident, authorities have sealed off the village for 14 days and are conducting mass COVID tests for all villagers in the area.

Hundreds of people violated Covid's restrictions to attend the funeral of a horse belonging to a local religious organization in Karnataka's Belagavi district on Sunday. The large gathering has forced district officials to temporarily seal the village and carry out tests to check for new cases.

The incident took place in Karnataka on Sunday as it reported 626 more Covid-19 deaths, the highest single-day toll recorded in the state since the pandemic began.

Following the incident, authorities have sealed the village and conducting the covid test for all villagers. The southern state has reported 25,000 virus-related deaths so far and the number of active cases is around 475000.