Iranian man who inspired Tom Hanks' 'The Terminal' dies at Paris airport

Mehran Karimi Nasseri, a political refugee who lived over 18 years in Paris' Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport and inspired director Steven Spielberg's 'The Terminal', died, aged 77. Photo: AFP

An Iranian man who lived for 18 years in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport and whose saga loosely inspired the Steven Spielberg film The Terminal died Saturday (Nov 12) in the airport that he long called home, officials said.

Mehran Karimi Nasseri died after a heart attack in the airport’s Terminal 2F around midday, according an official with the Paris airport authority. Police and a medical team treated him but were not able to save him, the official said. The official was not authorised to be publicly named.