As the world marks the one year anniversary of the crash of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752, the COVID-19 pandemic will limit the ceremonies held in the Maritimes.
On Jan. 8, 2020, 176 people were killed when a Ukrainian passenger plane crashed minutes after takeoff near Tehran.
Among the victims were 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.
Five of the victims had ties to Nova Scotia; Masoumeh Ghavi, an engineering student at Dalhousie University, and her sister, Mandieh Ghavi; Dr. Sharieh Faghihi, a dentist who worked in Halifax for several years; and Maryam Malek and Fatemeh Mahmoodi, who were attending Saint Mary’s University as masters of financial management students.
The Iranian Cultural Society of Nova Scotia and the Dalhousie Iranian Student Society both say they won’t be holding local vigils this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
A candlelight vigil is set to be held Friday evening from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Fredericton city hall organized by the University of New Brunswick-Persia group.
A national candlelight vigil will also be held at 7 p.m. ET/8 p.m. AT
Read more:
Canada still determined to ‘get to the bottom’ of what happened in Iran plane crash
The Dalhousie Iranian Student Society confirmed to Global News that they are following up with Dalhousie University to find out who will be the first recipient of a bursary created in honour of those killed in the crash.
The bursary is meant to be awarded each year on the anniversary of the tragedy to an Iranian international student attending the school.
–With files from Global News’ Ashley Field and Elizabeth McSheffrey