KABUL, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- An Afghan man Khudai Birdy passes away at the age of 117 Tuesday night in Afghanistan's northern Sar-e-Pul province, survived by 40 children and hundreds of grandsons, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

    According to his 15th son Khan Mohammad, Khudai, believed to bethe oldest man in Afghanistan, had married four times and left behind 40 children and 200 grandsons.

    He died Tuesday night due to protracted illness, daily 8Subh reported.

    In a war-ravaged and poor country like Afghanistan where life expectancy is only 43, such an age is unbelievable.

    The newspaper added that another man, Mohammad Shahpoor, who lived in northern Baghlan province, had completed his 113th birthday anniversary and thus was considered the oldest man alive in Afghanistan.

    Shahpoor, according to the newspaper, got married when he was 80 without any children.