CNN
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Mehran Karimi Naseri, who lived inside Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport for years and inspired Steven Spielberg’s 2004 film The Terminal, died Saturday at the same airport.
Naceri was pronounced dead by the airport medical team at Terminal 2F and died of natural causes, an airport spokesperson told CNN.
Naseri, an Iranian refugee, was on his way to England via Belgium and France in 1988 when he lost his documents and was unable to board a plane or leave the airport, and was stuck until 2006.
He “returned to life as a homeless person in an airport public area from mid-September after staying in a nursing home,” a spokesperson said.
A spokesperson said Naceri is an “iconic character” for the airport and that “the entire airport community is attached to him and staff have looked after him as best they can over the years. A true haven.”
Naceri’s story inside the airport was memorialized by Tom Hanks in the movie The Terminal, but an airport spokesperson said: In fact, although he stayed there several times, he was always in the public areas of the airport and was free to move around at all times. ”
At one point, French authorities offered to allow him to live in France, but Naceri reportedly declined the offer because he wanted to go to his original destination, England.