Iranian refugee Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who inspired the 2004 film "The Terminal," died on Saturday at the Charles de Gaulle Airport where he lived for 18 years. He apparently suffered a heart attack in Terminal 2F. From the New York Times:
Mr. Nasseri's attachment to the airport persisted until his final days. He had been staying at a nursing home this year, but returned to the airport in mid-September "to live as a homeless person in the public space of the airport," the representative said.
With his trimmed mustache and soft voice, Mr. Nasseri became a peculiar fixture in Terminal 1 of the bustling airport as he hauled piles of his belongings, stacked neatly on a luggage cart. He resided in the airport from 1988 to 2006, initially because of legal hurdles to prove his refugee status, and later by choice.
He lived between a pizzeria and an electronics store, planting himself on a red plastic bench that he made his home[…]
The New York Times Magazine noted in a 2003 profile of Mr. Nasseri that he seemed "both settled — and ready to go."
