Gateway El Salvador
Oldest Living Person Dies
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SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - Salvadorans buried the country's oldest known living person on Friday: Cruz Hernandez, who was 128 years old according to the government.
Hernandez was born May 3, 1878, according to her government-issued identity card. Community members said she worked as a midwife for years until she turned 100, and was beloved by all in the city of San Agustin, about 60 miles east of the capital of San Salvador.
Hernandez did not have a birth certificate, but the government confirmed her age in 2005 after an investigation. If her age was accurate, Hernandez would have been the oldest living woman in the world - perhaps ever.
According to the Gerontology Research Group at the UCLA School of Medicine, which documents people over 100, the longest-living person ever was Jeanne Calment, a French woman who was 122 years old when she died in 1997.
Hernandez is survived by more than 200 relatives, including children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Nearly 100 people, mostly family, attended the funeral services.
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
THE LONG SLEEP: Salvadoran Cruz Hernandez, quite possibly the world's oldest person, has died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 128.
Oldest Living Person Dies
in El Salvador
March 23, 2007
