Iranian Merhan Karimi Nasseri died after a heart attack in Terminal 2F of Charles de Gaulle Airport, according to a Paris airport authority official. He lived in the airport for 18 years and his life story inspired Tom Hanks’ 2004 vehicle, The Terminal.
Mr Karimi Nasseri lived in the airport’s Terminal 1 from 1988 until 2006, initially because he lacked residency papers and later by choice.
He had planned to settle in the UK but claimed his papers were lost. He was returned to France from London by British immigration officials and as his entry to the airport was legal and he had no country of origin to be returned to, he began living in Terminal 1.
In 2003, Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks production company paid Mr Karimi Nasseri USD$250,000 (AUD$372,970) for the rights to his life story.
His airport stay ended when he was hospitalised in 2006 and he then lived in a Paris shelter. Airport officials said he had been living in the airport again in recent weeks however it is unclear what prompted him to return.
Mr Karimi Nasseri died at the airport where he lived for 18 years on Saturday 12 November 2022 after police and a medical team treated him but were not able to save him, the official said.
His story was also the inspiration for the 1994 French film, Lost in Transit, as well as documentaries, short stories and an opera.
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport is France’s largest international airport and was sixth on the list of the World’s Best Airports in the 2022 Skytrax 2022 World Airport Awards.
Via AP/ABC
