A former football player, Hamsakoya, 61, died of COVID-19 in Kerala on Saturday.
A native of Parappanangadi in Malappuram district of Kerala, he died at Manjeri Medical College Hospital in the district. His wife and four other members in the family were also reported to be infected.
Sources said that Hamsakoya was a former footballer. He played in the Nehru Cup and Santosh Trophy tournaments.
Hamsakoya was with his son in Maharashtra during lockdown. He returned to Kerala on May 21 with his wife, son and his family. Six of them were later tested as COVID positive.
Hamsakoya's condition worsened as he suffered from heart ailments and also developed pneumonia, sources said.
With this, the number of COVID-19 deaths in Kerala reached 16. One among them was a native of Mahe that comes under Puducherry. Hence Kerala has not included him in the state's tally.