KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today said that the reported 130-year old man who died of Covid-19 yesterday has no official identity document.
Noor Hisham said the deceased’s background was instead obtained from his family as well as from local authorities.
He said the man’s death was confirmed by Tuaran Hospital.
“As the deceased did not have any valid proof of identity documents, the information received was limited, including the age of the deceased,” he said in a statement today.
Yesterday, the Health Ministry reported the death of the man — a foreigner named Talib Omar — during its daily brief of Covid-19 related statistics. However, the news drew controversy, because if the man was truly 130 years old, it would set a new world record on the oldest person who ever lived.
4 kes kematian termasuk 2 bukan warganegara dilaporkan hari ini di Sabah.
Jumlah kes kematian kini meningkat kepada 354.
KKM mengucapkan takziah kepada ahli keluarga mereka. pic.twitter.com/jur6mA2jIP
— KKMalaysia🇲🇾 (@KKMPutrajaya) November 28, 2020
Guinness World Records currently state that the oldest person who ever lived was Jeanne Calment, a French woman who died at the age of 122 years and 164 days, in 1997.
Meanwhile, according to a report by the New Straits Times today, Talib’s daughter Kimri, said her father was indeed 130 years old “based on a document he had”.
Talib was the 35,037th person in Malaysia to contract Covid-19, and the 352nd to die from the coronavirus.