World's shortest man dies aged 75

London

 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 yesterday.

 Nepal's Chandra Bahadur Dangi, who was 21.5 inches tall (54.6 cm), died late Thursday at the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center in Pago Pago.

 The 75-year-old lived in a remote village around 400 kilometres (248 miles) from Kathmandu but travelled the world after he was officially declared the world's smallest man, posing for a photograph with world's tallest man Sultan Kosen in 2013.

 Family friend Sujit Dilip, owner of India's well-known Rambo Circus, based in Pune, said: 'Today, our circus is flooded with tears at the loss of the world's smallest man...whom we lovingly called Prince Chandra.'

 Dangi, who was just 21.5ins, broke the record in 2012 when he was crowned by Guinness World Records in Kathmandu. 

A spokeswoman at the hospital said he died of an undisclosed disease but it was believed he’d been suffering from pneumonia, as reported by the Kathmandu Post.

 Dangi was popular in his area after his title enabled him to travel abroad and earn money for Reemkholi, the Nepalese village where he lived.

 Before that he made placemats and head straps for villagers carrying heavy loads.

 The tiny man, who was a primordial dwarf, was the same size as six cans of baked beans stacked on top of each other.