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'This is devastating': 63 Canadians among dead in Iran plane crash Newlyweds and family of four among 63 Canadians killed in 'devastating' crash
(about 2 hours later)
New Democrat leader says ‘These families deserve clear answers’ as Justin Trudeau says Canada will work to investigate crash Canadian PM Justin Trudeau ‘shocked and saddened’ by crash in which 176 people died, as more details of victims emerge
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has said that his country will work closely with other countries to investigate the crash of a Ukrainian passenger jet in which 176 people died, including 63 Canadians. A family of four, and a newlywed couple who had traveled to Iran to get married were among the 63 Canadians killed when a Ukrainian passenger jet crashed early on Wednesday morning.
The Boeing 737-800, operated by Ukraine International Airlines, crashed minutes after taking off from Tehran airport early on Wednesday. All 167 passengers and nine crew members were killed when the plane, which was destined for Kyiv, crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran.
In a statement, Trudeau said that he and his wife were “shocked and saddened” by the news. “On behalf of the government of Canada, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences to those who have lost family, friends and loved ones in this tragedy.” More than a third of them were Canadian, many of whom were travelling home after winter holidays.
Trudeau said that Canada’s foreign minister François-Philippe Champagne had been in touch with the government of Ukraine. “Our government will continue to work closely with its international partners to ensure that this crash is thoroughly investigated,” he said. They included four members of a wedding party, and another 24 Iranian Canadians from Edmonton, said Reza Akbari, the president of the city’s Iranian Heritage Society.
Champagne tweeted: “Our hearts are with the loved ones of the victims, including many Canadians.” He vowed to keep Canadians informed as the situation evolves. Arash Pourzarabi, 26, and Pouneh Gourji, 25, graduate students in computer science at the University of Alberta, had travelled to Iran for their wedding, Akbari said.
“There are no words. 176 lives lost. 63 Canadians won’t be coming home,” the opposition New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh tweeted. “These families deserve clear answers, but whatever the case, this is devastating.” He told the Edmonton Journal:“It’s been a shock, I know some of these people in person, I had a chance to see them at different, parties, gatherings, I’m in shock. I can tell you pretty much every Iranian in Edmonton knew some of them. So it’s very devastating.”
The crash of the Ukraine International Airlines plane came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing US soldiers, but Iranian officials said they suspected a mechanical issue brought down the 3½-year-old Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Prime minister Justin Trudeau said his government would work closely with other countries to investigate the crash, Canada’s worst transport disaster after the 1985 Air India bombing, which killed 268 citizens.
Ukrainian officials initially agreed, but later backed away and declined to offer a cause while the investigation is ongoing. In a statement, Trudeau said he and his wife were “shocked and saddened” by the news. “On behalf of the government of Canada, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences to those who have lost family, friends and loved ones in this tragedy.”
The plane carried 167 passengers and nine crew members from different countries. As passengers were slowly identified, the scope of devastation to the Canadian Iranian community became clear.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Vadym Prystaiko, said that there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians on board the Ukrainian nationals included two passengers and the nine crew. There were also 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British nationals, he said. Payman Parseyan, a former president of the Iranian Heritage Society of Edmonton, said the death toll represented nearly 1% of the Iranian community in the city. “Absolutely terrible,” he tweeted.
Other Edmonton residents who died in the crash were husband and wife Pedram Mousavi, 47 and Mojgan Daneshmand, 43 – both professors at University of Alberta’s engineering faculty.
Daneshmand and Mousavi were award-winning professors who worked in wireless communication technology. The pair were travelling home with their two daughters Daria, 14 and Dorina, nine.
Several of the passengers onboard the flight were students, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency. Delaram Dadashnejad, 27, had just graduated with a certificate in English at Vancouver’s Langara College in September, according to the school’s convocation program.
Mari Foroutan, 37, a doctoral candidate at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, was studying remote-sensing technologies to better understand climate change.
Also among the victims were Ontario residents Evin Arsalani, 30, and her husband Hiva Molani, 38. The couple were travelling to a wedding with their one-year-old daughter Kurdia, Arsalani’s sister told the CBC. “At this point I don’t care how it happened. All I care is that I lost my family members,” she said.
More than 210,000 residents of Iranian descent live in Canada, according to the country’s most recent census, making it one of the largest Iranian diasporas in the world.
Canada has suspended diplomatic relations with Iran, and closed its embassy in Tehran in 2012. In recent months, US sanctions have made it increasingly difficult and costly for residents to travel between Iran and Canada.
With no direct flights linking the two countries, the Tehran to Toronto route, many choose to take travel via Kyiv as a relatively affordable – if indirect – alternative.
Iranian officials have stated they suspect mechanical issues were a factor in the crash. Ukrainian officials have declined to offer a cause while the investigation takes place.
Air Canada, the only Canadian carrier to operate in the region, has “altered its routes to ensure the security of its flights into and over the Middle East”.
The Canadian government urged citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Iran – especially dual nationals “due to the volatile security situation and the regional threat of terrorism”– but did not mention the crash in its statement.
“My heart is broken. We will have to go through this terrible pain together with our Canadian brothers and sisters,” tweeted Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada.“My heart is broken. We will have to go through this terrible pain together with our Canadian brothers and sisters,” tweeted Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada.
“Ukraine is working with the Iranian authorities on the ground to identify the dead and help their families. Our deepest condolences to all those who lost their loved ones. It is devastating,” he wrote. “There are no words. 176 lives lost. 63 Canadians won’t be coming home,” the opposition New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh tweeted. “These families deserve clear answers, but whatever the case, this is devastating.”
Canada closed its embassy in Iran in 2012 and has suspended diplomatic relations.
Canada is urging Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to Iran due to the volatile security situation, but the travel advisory makes no mention of the plane crash.
The Tehran to Toronto route via Kiev is an affordable route for Iranian Canadians as there is no direct flight.
Canada has urged its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Iran due to the volatile security situation.
The crash was one of the worst losses of life for Canadians in an aviation disaster. In 1985 a bomb exploded and killed 329 people aboard an Air India flight from Montreal to New Delhi. Most of the victims were Canadian.