People have some questions about ‘188-year-old man found living in a cave’

A video of a frail man in India who is ‘allegedly’ 188 years old and rescued from a cave went viral this week.

The clip shows two younger men helping the elderly individual, who is very thin and wearing only a loin cloth, walk over some rocks and along some steps.

A user called Concerned Citizen shared the video on X, where it’s had around 30 million views.

He wrote: ‘This Indian Man has just been found in a cave. It’s alleged he’s 188 years old. Insane.’

The bearded man, who is bent over and holding a stick, does indeed look pretty old. But 188?

Unsurprisingly, several people questioned the claim, including X, which posted a disclaimer underneath that read: ‘Misinformation! The elderly man is a Hindu Saint named ‘Siyaram Baba’ who lives in Madhya Pradesh, India.

‘According to reports he is about 110 years old.’

The disclaimer cited a Navbharat Times article from July 2 this year as one its sources.

The article says: ‘Many stories about Siyaram Baba are famous in the region. It is said that he performed penance while standing on one leg for 10 years.

‘Even at the age of 109, Baba reads the Ramayana without glasses and does all his work by himself.

‘Baba speaks very little, yet devotees still flock to seek his blessings. Siyaram Baba is a saint residing at the Bhatyan Ashram, located on the banks of the Narmada River in Khargone district, Madhya Pradesh.

‘While no one knows his exact age, it is believed that he is around 109 or 110 years old.’

It added that some people claim he is as old as 130, adding: ‘However, Baba himself has never provided any information regarding his actual age.’

Fact checking website, D-Intent Data also said claims the man was 188 were ‘untrue’, and confirmed the man was a ‘Saint named Siyaram Baba’.

One X user, Dr Dimon Hundeshagen, wrote under Concerned Citizen’s post that ‘medically, it is virtually impossible for a human to live to 188 years old’.

He added: ‘The longest verified human lifespan is 122 years, achieved by Jeanne Calment.

‘Even with exceptional genetics, a healthy lifestyle, and advances in medicine, the body undergoes irreversible declines in function, making such an extreme age highly improbable.’

Concerned Citizen later posted: ‘I’m embarrassed I even wrote 188. Anything over 120 would have been ridiculous.’

Officially, the oldest living human currently is Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman who was born on May 23, 1908 and is 116.

The oldest living man, meanwhile, is Englishman John Tinniswood, who celebrated turning 112 on August 26 this year.

John, of Southport, Merseyside, told Guinness World Records he had ‘no idea at all’ why he had lived so long.

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