Three years after the terrible loss, the University of Windsor will remember the five members of its community who died onboard Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752.
Sunday marks the third anniversary after the passenger jet was shot down by two Iranian surface-to-air missiles just minutes after taking off from the airport in Tehran.
University of Windsor President Robert Gordon called the loss "unfathomable."
Of the 167 passengers onboard, 138 were on their way to Canada.
Biology research assistant Samira Bashiri was the flight, along with engineering doctoral students Hamidreza Setareh Kokab, Pedram Jadidi, Zahra Naghibi, and Naghibi's spouse Mohammad Abbaspour Ghadi.
The CAW Student Centre at the University of Windsor July 24, 2015. (Photo by Adelle Loiselle)
In their memory, the university plans to hold a memorial event on Monday, January 9, at 10 a.m. in the CAW Student Centre Commons. It is open to the public.
Following the event, a memorial in the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation, room 3000, will provide a space for reflection and the opportunity to share words of comfort to the families of the deceased in a book.
"Our own students were standing on the very doorstep of discovery in their research careers, and their potential was limitless," said Gordon. "We will never know what life-changing contributions they may have made in their areas of study and academic pursuits."
In the years since the tragedy, the victims' families have fought for justice.
Just over two months after Iran shot down the passenger jet, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed the Honourable Ralph Goodale as his special advisor to develop a framework guiding Canada's response to international air disasters. Global Affairs Canada formed the PS752 task force in May 2021.
Related link: What Canada has been doing to hold Iran accountable for PS752
Last month, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom formally triggered a process to hold Iran accountable. The countries requested Iran to submit to binding arbitration under an international dispute resolution process.
An Ontario court awarded the families $107-million in damages last year, but getting Iran to pay could be difficult. If the four countries can't resolve the question of compensation for the families, the case will go to the International Court of Justice. Even if Iran chooses not to participate in that process, the court could decide to proceed.
