January 03, 2009	Saturday	Muharram 05, 1430

LISBON, Jan 2: A woman who lived to see five of her great-great grandchildren born and was believed to have been the world’s oldest person living, has died in Portugal at the age of 115, officials said on Friday.

Maria de Jesus, who was born on Sept 10, 1893, and was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records and the Gerontology Research Group as the world’s oldest person, died in an ambulance near the town of Tomar.

De Jesus, who outlived three of her six children, had 11 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, had eaten breakfast normally but was being taken to hospital because of a swelling, her daughter Maria Madalena told state news agency Lusa.

Corvelo Sousa, president of the town council of Tomar, 66 kilometres north of the port city of Porto, confirmed the death.

“I regret the death of this lady, she really was the sweetest person,” said Tomar town councillor Ivo Santos.

De Jesus was left a widow when she was 57 and lived to reach 115 years and 114 days.—AP