Iranian airport resident dies

BOBIGNY, France (AFP) — An Iranian who got stuck for 18 years in a Paris airport, inspiring a Steven Spielberg movie starring Tom Hanks died on Saturday at the terminal, an airport official said.

Mehran Karimi Nasseri died of natural causes just before midday on Saturday in terminal 2F at Charles de Gaulle airport outside the French capital, the official told AFP.

Caught originally in an immigration trap — unable to enter France and with nowhere to go — he became dependent on his unusual place of abode and increasingly a national and international cause celebre.

Nasseri’s peculiar story came to the attention of Hollywood director Spielberg, inspiring 2004 film “The Terminal.”

After spending most of the money he received for the film, Nasseri returned to the airport a few weeks ago, the official said. Several thousand euros were found on him.