Family of ‘127-year-old man’ claim he is the oldest person ever to have lived

The family of Natabay Tinsiew said he was 127 years old when he died in a remote village in Eritrea on Monday

The family of a man who died aged 127 have called on Guinness World Records to crown him the oldest man who ever lived.

Natabay Tinsiew, died in a remote village called Azefa, in Eritrea, Africa on Monday.

In the days after his death, his family called the world record-keepers to ask them to officially recognise him as the oldest person to have ever lived.

Zere Natabay, Mr Natabay’s grandson, claims he has spoken with Guinness and provided official documents to prove the year of his grandad’s birth.

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A birth certificate from Mr Natabay’s church as a child show the year of his baptism as 1894.

His family claim the remoteness of his village resulted in a late baptism – 10 years after his birth when a priest finally visited.

Guinness are in the process of validating the family’s claims, Zere the told BBC.

He said “patience, generosity and a joyful life” were the secrets behind Mr Nataby’s abnormally long life.

Mr Natabay was an “extraordinary man” who was caring and hardworking, he added.

He spent the majority of his life with his wife following their marriage in 1934. In 2018, his wife sadly passed away at the age of 99.

Spending most of his life herding animals, he owned several cattle, goats, and even honey bees.

On his 120th birthday in 2014, the whole village celebrated with him, according to reports.

The family are waiting for Guinness to tell them they have validated Mr Natabay’s documents.

Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122, is the current world record holder for oldest person to have ever lived.

The oldest man was Jiroemon Kimura from Japan, who died aged 116 in 2013.