World's oldest person dies aged 114

The world's oldest person has died a week before her 115th birthday.

Kama Chinen, whose life touched three centuries, died on Sunday on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, according to spokeswoman Kaoru Shijima.

Ms Chinen spent her final years at a care centre in Nanjo, south-east Okinawa. She was born on May 10, 1895, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

Her family guarded her privacy closely and details regarding her death were not released to the press. Many Japanese newspapers didn't identify her by name.

Ms Chinen became the world's oldest known person when Gertrude Baines died in a Los Angeles hospital at 115 in September.

The oldest person is now 114-year-old Eugenie Blanchard, a French woman born on February 16, 1896, according to the research group.