The man lived at the airport between 1988 and 2006. Shortly before his death, he had once again returned to live in the airport premises.
An Iranian who lived at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years Mehran Karimi Nasseri has died, the airport authorities say.
According to the authorities, Nasseri died on Saturday of an illness in the airport’s terminal 2F. Several thousand euros in money were found in his possession.
Nasseri was born in 1945 in Iran. His father was Iranian and his mother British. According to the news agency AFP, he originally flew to Europe to look for his mother. He was deported from several countries because he did not have the required documents.
Nasseri arrived at Paris Airport in 1988 and stayed there until 2006. At first he stayed at the airport because he lacked a residence permit.
In 1999, Nasser was granted refugee status and permission to stay in France. Still, he remained at the airport for years.
Year after year, Nasseri slept on a red plastic bench. He made friends with many airport employees and was able to wash in the staff facilities. Nasseri spent his time writing a diary, reading newspapers and observing passengers.
He called himself Sir Alfred and became a mini-celebrity among the passengers. An informal support network grew up around Nasser, offering him food and other help.
The airport doctor was worried about Nasser’s mental health already in the 1990s. In 2006, the man was hospitalized and later lived in a dormitory in Paris.
A few weeks before his death, Nasseri had returned to the airport and stayed there again.
by Steven Spielberg directed by The Terminal from 2004, it was loosely based on the Nasser case. The opera Flight has also been inspired by Nasser’s life.
Sources: AP, AFP