Nasseri lived in Charles de Gaulle airport from 1988 until 2006, first after being caught in a diplomatic limbo and later by choice.
The Iranian man who inspired Tom Hanks’ blockbuster film ‘The Terminal’ died after suffering a heart attack at the Parisian airport which he called home for 18 years. Iranian exile Mehran Karimi Nasseri died at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport’s Terminal 2F on Saturday, according to an official with the Paris airport authority.
Police and a medical team treated Nasseri but were not able to save him, an airport spokesperson said. Nasseri lived in Charles de Gaulle airport from 1988 until 2006, first after being caught in a diplomatic limbo and later by choice. He had lately returned to the airport and settled in Terminal 2F after spending several years in a shelter in Paris.
Police and medical personnel were sent to Charles de Gaulle’s Terminal 2F on Saturday after there were reports that Nasseri had suffered a heart attack. According to an airport official, he was could not be saved despite desperate efforts.
Nasseri died shortly before noon. He was 77. Nasseri, who is believed to have been born in 1945, was left detained in the airport when he initially came to France due to a lack of residency papers.
He then started living in Terminal 1 of the airport which he made home from 1988 to 2006, first out of necessity and then by choice.
He slept on a red plastic bench every year, making friends with airport staff, taking showers in the staff bathrooms, journaling, reading periodicals, and keeping an eye on the passing travelers.
