LONDON, ONT. -- Western University's Iranian Student Association is trying to move forward after the devastating loss of four students in this week's plane crash near Tehran, Iran.
And even though they are grieving the loss of four members of their community, they say they are trying to learn from the tragedy.
“This incident has brought members of our club closer together,” says Bita Pejam, president of the association. “This incident has been a huge loss to not only for the Iranian community but for Western has a whole.”
Ghazal Nourian, Milad Nahavandi, Hadis Hayatdavoudi and Sajedeh Saraeian were among the 176 people who died in the Ukrainian Airlines crash, a number which includes 63 Canadians.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed there was evidence the plane was shot down by a missile, possibly by accident.
And as more details come to light, Pejam is hoping that through this tragedy students become more politically aware of what’s going on around the world and how it can impact them.
"I think sometimes when things happen so far away people think that it doesn't impact them directly, but having this incident has really shed light on how things going on around the world impacts everybody. We will get through this as a community and as an association and hopefully we don't have to experience such a tragedy like this going forward."
Pejam adds that their goal now is to support those who need it, "This incident in particular has really brought members of our club closer together, through grieving, through everyone having support and we're really focusing right now first and foremost on being their for anyone that needs that support."
In all there are 60 members in the association, mostly made up of Iranian-Canadian students.
