World’s shortest man dies

According to the Guinness World Records official web site, Dangi was fifty four.6 cm (21.5 inch) tall at the time of verification by the Guinness workforce, when he was seventy two.

“Chandra Bahadur Dangi’s nephew, Dolakh, called me from the Samoa Islands and asked me to inform the family about the death”, Guragai, who is in Kathmandu, was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times. He was rushed to the hospital there after his symptoms worsened.

The world’s shortest man, as verified by the Guinness Book of Records, has died of an undisclosed illness in American Samoa, a hospital spokeswoman said on Friday.

Balawing, age 22, now returns to the top spot.

Last year, Dangi met the world’s tallest man, Sultan Kösen, at an event in London.

Guinness World Records posted the news on its website, expressing condolences. “He will be remembered forever as an iconic and extraordinary record holder”. “I’m extremely humbled by the support I receive”.

Until then, Mr Dangi had reportedly never left his remote Nepali village of Reemkholi in Dang district, more than 500 kilometres from the capital Kathmandu.