Kathmandu, Sep 4 (IANS): The World's shortest man, Chandra Bahadur Dangi from Nepal, passed away in the Samoa Islands in the US while undergoing treatment at a local hospital, media reports said here on Friday.

The 75-year-old Dangi breathed his last due to an undisclosed illness at Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center on Friday, leading online news portal Setopati.com reported on Friday quoting to Dangi's nephew Dolakh Dangi, Xinhua reported.

According to Dangi's nephew, Dangi had left for the United States on a tour last month.

The Guinness World Records recognised Nepali national Dangi as the shortest man of the World on February 26, 2012.

According to the Guinness World Records official website, Dangi was 54.6 cm (21.5 inch) tall at the time of verification by the Guinness team, when he was 72. The confirmed measurement also made Dangi the shortest adult human to ever have their height verified by Guinness World Records during the time of verification.

Chandra was a permanent resident of a village of Reemkholi in Dang district of Mid-Western Nepal, some 540 km southwest of the Nepali capital Kathmandu.