A look at some of the Canadians who died in Iran plane crash

Payman Paseyan, a member of the Iranian-Canadian community in Edmonton, said his friend Pedram Mousavi, an engineering professor at the University of Alberta, died along with his wife Mojgan Daneshmand and their daughters Daria Mousavi and Dorina Mousavi.

“They had two young girls with them. I can’t imagine what was going through their mind,” said Paseyan.

Sina Ghaemi, an engineering professor at the University of Alberta, knew Mousavi for about six years. Their offices were next door to each other.

“He was a really fun person and always laughing,” Ghaemi said. “He was a very happy person.”

Ghaemi said Mousavi worked on antennas and had published many highly cited papers in the field.

“He was very prolific.”

Ghaemi said it was a sombre morning in the department.

“Everyone is in shock. Things are quiet and people look sad. The whole faculty’s kind of in shock.”

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Zahra Naghibi

Zahra Naghibi was a colleague of Jacqueline Stagner at the University of Windsor. Stagner said she was informed by the head of the lab where Naghibi worked that she was on the plane.

“She was very helpful and warm,” Stagner said.

Naghibi was a part of Windsor’s Turbulence and Energy Lab, where she worked on issues related to solar energy.

Stagner said when one of her students — just starting graduate work and new to Canada — needed help, Naghibi stepped in.

“Zahra was giving her advice, helping her out, letting her learn from her own work and what she’d discovered — helping her along, the next generation of researchers. She was very welcoming.”

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Ardalan Ebnoddin Hamidi, Niloofar Razzaghi and Hamyar Ebnoddin Hamidi

The president of the Vancouver-based Civic Association of Iranian-Canadians, Kei Esmaeilpour, said a Vancouver family of three was killed in the crash.

Esmaeilpour said Ardalan Ebnoddin Hamidi, an engineer, and Niloofar Razzaghi, who had just completed university training to become a teacher, lived in Vancouver with their 15-year-old son Hamyar Ebnoddin Hamidi.

Esmaeilpour said the family was vacationing in Iran.

He said he worked with Ebnoddin Hamidi and the two had served on the civic association together for at least a decade.

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Ghanimat Azdahri and Milad Ghasemi Ariani

The University of Guelph identified two victims as Ghanimat Azdahri, a PhD student in the department of geography, environment and geomatics, and Milad Ghasemi Ariani, a PhD student in marketing and consumer studies.

The school said they were on the way back to Canada from visiting Iran.

University president Franco Vaccarino said his thoughts go out to the two students’ families.

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Alina Tarbhai

The union representing Ontario’s high school teachers said employee Alina Tarbhai was among those killed.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation said Tarbhai worked at the union’s provincial office in Toronto, but it offered no other details about what took her to Iran.

“She was respected and well-liked by all. Her passing represents a profound loss for all of us who worked with her,” the federation said in a statement posted to Facebook.

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Parisa Eghbalian and Reera Esmaeilion

A dentistry in Aurora, Ont., confirmed that Parisa Eghbalian, a dentist, and her daughter Reera Esmaeilion died.

Eghbalian’s husband, Hamed Esmaeilion, is also a dentist at E&E Dentistry, but was not travelling with his wife and child.

Eghbalian first immigrated to Canada in 2010 and lived with her husband and daughter in Richmond Hill, Ont., said her biography on the dentist office’s website.

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Shekoufeh Choupannejad, Saba Saadat and Sara Saadat

Shayesteh Majdnia, a past president of the Iranian Heritage Society of Edmonton, said she was close friends with Shekoufeh Choupannejad, a gynecologist who died along with her two daughters Saba Saadat and Sara Saadat.

Majdnia said she had spoken to Choupannejad’s husband, who is still in Iran, for confirmation. She said Choupannejad also leaves behind a son who was not on the trip with the family.

“She was the kindest person I had ever met,” Majdnia said of Choupannejad.

She said Choupannejad was always there for community fundraisers, and often did her best to help take appointments with new immigrants who were overwhelmed and unable to find immediate medical help.

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Amirhossien Ghasemi

Amir Shirzadi, a board member with the Manitoba Iranian Student Association, said his good friend Amirhossien Ghasemi was on the plane.

Shirzadi said his friend was visiting family in Iran and was on his way back to Winnipeg. Ghasemi was a graduate student in biomedical engineering at the University of Manitoba.

“I saw him before he left the country,” said Shirzadi, who added that the two played games together.

“I can’t use past tense. I think he’s coming back. We play again. We talk again. It’s too difficult to use past tense, too difficult. No one can believe it.”

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The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

A look at some of the Canadians who died in Iran plane crash

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