The remains of more than 1,000 Holocaust victims have been laid to rest in a Belarusian city on the border with Poland after the discovery of a mass grave at a building site.

The ceremony was held at a local cemetery just outside Brest on Wednesday.

The remains of at least 1,214 people were found in January in the center of Brest which was home to a large, vibrant Jewish community before the Second World War. Half of the city's population was Jewish, and at least 17,000 of its residents were executed by Nazis after the Germany occupation in 1941.

City authorities suspended the construction when the bones and skeletons were found at the site of a future high-rise apartment block. Construction is set to recommence soon.