The Paris airport authority informed about the death of Nasseri after he suffered a heart attack. The officials added that police and medical services made an attempt to save him but, Nasseri died.
Merhan Karimi Nasseri spent around 18 years at the Paris airport from 1988 to 2006, initially due to legal problems and then by choice as he loved the Terminal 1 of the airport. The airport authorities confirmed that recently, he again started living at the terminal of the airport.
“Eventually, I will leave the airport," he told The Associated Press in 1999, smoking a pipe on his bench, looking frail with long thin hair, sunken eyes, and hollow cheeks. “But I am still waiting for a passport or transit visa," he added.
During his time at the airport, Nasseri became a mini-celebrity and the staff at the airport used to call him Lord Alfred. He used to sleep on a red plastic bench and interact with passengers traveling through the airport. The staff of the airport knew him well and he showered in their facilities. Nasseri also used to write diaries and read magazines at the airport and was friends with almost everybody at the terminal.
While directing the movie, The Terminal, Steven Spielberg tried to imbibe various aspects of Nasseri's personality into the character of Viktor Navorski, enacted by Tom Hanks.
