Ashley Radcliffe
A painful loss for the loved ones of the victims affected by the crash of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was acknowledged at Humber College North and Lakeshore campuses this morning.
The plane crashed in Iran on Jan. 8, killing 176 passengers, 57 of those passengers being Canadians, including faculty and students of colleges and universities across Canada.
Family members, colleagues, friends, and loved ones were all taken from members of the Humber community.
“They lost their lives in this avoidable and unnecessary plane crash,” said Farzad Rayegani, a faculty member of applied sciences and technology who lost friends in the crash.
“They lost their lives while heading back to attend classes, teaching their students, visiting their loved ones, or returning to their homes. Many of them lived here in Canada and right here in Toronto,” said Rayegani.
The vigil was organized by Humber College and IGNITE to provide a moment to unite the community in grieving and reflections for the ones lost.
“We are committed to working with the institution to ensure that our students have resources needed to help them with this difficult time,” said Monica Khosla, the President of IGNITE.
“The strength of this Humber community coming together today will help with the grieving process and will allow room for healing. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the individuals we have lost,” said Khosla.
Students from multiple post-secondary institutions, including Western University, University of Ottawa, and the University of Guelph, as well as professors from multiple post-secondary institutions were victims of the fatal plane crash.
There were no Humber students on the flight.
At Queen’s Park, Premier Doug Ford announced the Ontario government is creating 57 scholarships for Ontario students in honour of the number of Canadians that were lost in the plane crash.
The post-secondary students that are rewarded with the scholarship will be funded $10,000.
Doug Ford said each scholarship is created in memory of the 57 Canadians who were victims of the plane crash.
Ford has announced that the scholarships will be offered to students for the start of the 2021-2022 academic year.