Students, children, newlyweds: 176 people, mostly Iranians and Canadians, died in Tehran on Wednesday in the still unexplained plane crash of Ukraine. According to Ukrainian diplomacy, were on board the Boeing 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, ten Swedes, four Afghans and three British. Eleven others were Ukrainians, including the nine crew members.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for a "thorough investigation" into the air disaster, the deadliest involving Canadians since the 1985 attack on an Air India Boeing 747 in which 268 Canadians were killed. "Canadians have questions to ask, and they deserve answers," he said.
Shocking news from Tehran this morning: 176 people, including 63 Canadians, lost their lives in a tragic plane crash. My thoughts are with all those who mourn the loss of family members, friends and loved ones. https://t.co/TUogWBIiEd
- Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 8, 2020Ukrainian President warns of 'speculation'
The United States, for its part, called for "full cooperation with any investigation into the causes", a barely veiled warning to Iran, which said it refused to give the black boxes to the American manufacturer of the aircraft, Boeing . The 737 disaster of the private company Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) came shortly after Tehran fired missiles at American troops in Iraq. There is no indication, however, that these events are linked and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned against "speculation".
UIA flight PS752 took off at 6:10 a.m. from Tehran Imam Khomeini Airport in the direction of Kiev Boryspil Airport, disappearing from radars two minutes later. It crashed shortly after takeoff on farmland about 45 km northwest of the airport, according to Iranian media. Amateur images released by Iranian state media show the burning plane losing altitude and then exploding on impact on the ground. An aviation expert and professor at the University of Tampere in Finland, Stephen Wright, said he doubted the plane was shot down.
In Canada, which hosts a large Iranian diaspora, around thirty victims came from the Edmonton region (west). "We lost about 1% of our community on this theft," said a member of the local Iranian community. Among the victims were "a newlywed couple, a family of four, a mother and two daughters, bright students, dedicated academics," said Justin Trudeau.
At least 25 passengers were under 18
At Kiev Boryspil airport in Ukraine, dozens of people paid their last respects to the crew members killed in the crash, in front of their photos lined up behind candles on desks covered with flowers. "I knew them all," says hoarse voice Artem, a pilot from the same company, who claims to have seen them before they left for Tehran.
According to the passenger list for the flight, at least 25 of them were under the age of 18. Thirteen people were students of Sharif University in Tehran, one of the most prestigious in the country, according to the semi-official news agency Isna.
According to UIA, which suspended its flights to Tehran, the Boeing 737, built in 2016, had undergone a technical check two days ago. It is the first deadly crash of this airline partly belonging to the sulfurous oligarch Igor Kolomoïski, reputed to be close to President Zelensky. The latter, who interrupted his vacation in Oman because of the disaster, ordered the opening of an investigation, before announcing in the evening the departure for Tehran of Ukrainian investigators.
This is a tragic event and our heartfelt thoughts are with the crew, passengers, and their families. We are in contact with our airline customer and stand by them in this difficult time. We are ready to assist in any way needed. pic.twitter.com/TsTlyY34Vd
- The Boeing Company (@Boeing) January 8, 2020Boeing, touched by a scandal around its 737 MAX nailed to the ground for 10 months, indicated to be "ready to help by all the necessary means". Only a few countries, including the United States but also Germany or France, have the technical capacity to analyze black boxes.
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