On Sunday, Haji died at the age of 94 in the Iranian village of Dejgah, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). Haji lived as a hermit in isolation for most of his life. Local villagers had built him a hut after they realized he had been sleeping in a hole in the ground.
According to a 2014 report by the Tehran Times, Haji also lived on a diet of rotted porcupine, smoked a pipe of animal excrement, ate roadkill and drank unsanitary water from an oil can. Photos and videos show Haji smoking multiple cigarettes at once.
Locals said that Haji had experienced emotional setbacks in his childhood, prompting his unusual cleaning and eating habits. Haji did not wash himself for six decades, and became known as the world’s dirtiest man. Not bathing left Haji’s skin covered in soot and pus, according to a report from the IRNA.
Years ago, a group of villagers tried to take Haji to a nearby river in order to bathe him, but he threw himself out of the car in fear and ran away. A few months ago, villagers successfully washed Haji, six decades after not bathing. Several months later Haji died. His funeral will be held Tuesday in the nearby city of Farashband, the IRNA reported.