A religious leader has died after attempting to replicate Jesus Christ's biblical accomplishment of fasting for 40 consecutive days straight without food and water.

Francisco Barajah, 39-year-old pastor from Mozambique had fasted for 25 days before he was rushed to hospital by his relatives and followers owing to his deteriorating health.

Barajah, the founder of the Santa Trindade Evangelical Church and a French teacher in the town of Messica bordering Zimbabwe, was diagnosed with acute anaemia and organ failure. He is reported to have lost so much weight that he could not even stand up.

According to BBC reports, attempts to replenish the pastor's fluids with serums and liquid nourishment were unsuccessful, as he passed away a few hours after being admitted to the medical center.

The late pastor's religious flock said that it was common for him to fast but not for such long periods of time.

Marques Manuel Barajah, the brother to the deceased, however, maintained that his brother passed away owing to low blood pressure.

The Bible's Gospel of Luke say that after his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he fasted for 40 days then in the Gospel of Matthew, in the New Testament of the Bible, it says: "At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights and afterwards was hungry."

The story sees Jesus being tempted by the devil, but he perseveres and passes the test.

It says in the bible: "He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry."

The Mirror quoted Barajah saying, "The truth is that my brother suffered from low blood pressure.”

In 2015, a Zimbabwean man died after 30 days, local media said and in 2006, a British coroner found that a woman died half-way through a similar fast in London.

Rosaline Gilbert, 29, was found dead at her Hackney home by her neighbours after she attempted a fast. However, tests revealed she had an underlying blood condition which killed her, rather than her religious starvation.

Her mother, Gloria, 66, said: "She fasted a lot. This time she wanted to fast for 40 days and 40 nights like Jesus."

According to Medical News Today, a well-fed male weighing around 70 kilograms could survive between one and three months without eating.

However people typically die after around three days without drinking any fluids.