A tall story

The following appeared in The Times on 17 March 2010
Family shocked by death of world's shortest man
Beijing The sister of the world's shortest man, He Pingping, said that he had shown no signs of ill health before dying on Saturday from heart complications (Jane Macartney writes). Mr He, 21, who was 2ft 5in (74cm), had been visiting Rome. "We just did not expect this bad news," He Lihua said. Guinness World Records said that it would announce his successor soon. The favourite is thought to be Wu Kang, 22, also Chinese, who is said to be even shorter at 2ft 3in.