Universities to observe moment of silence for flight 752 victims

There will be a moment of silence Wednesday at University campuses across the country to remember the victims of Ukraine Airlines Flight 752, which crashed last week after taking off in Iran.

Universities Canada is asking communities to join in observing the minute of silence scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

The University of Waterloo said they will mark the moment at the end of a memorial service scheduled over the noon hour.

"A number of people in our community were deeply touched and knew many of the victims," said Nick Manning, associate vice president of communications at the University of Waterloo.

Wilfrid Laurier University will mark the moment of silence as well on both its Waterloo and Brantford campuses.

A gathering is also planned at the University of Guelph on Wednesday. Students and faculty as well as the community are invited to gather at Branion Plaza outside the University Centre at 12:45 p.m. 

Milad Ghasemi Ariani was working on a PhD in the department of marketing and consumer studies, while Ghanimat Azhdari was doing research in the college of social and applied human sciences at the University of Guelph.

'Stand in solidarity'

All 176 passengers and crew on board Flight 752 were killed. Of those passengers, 138 were destined for Canada and 57 were Canadian citizens.

"We wanted to come together as a community to show our support for people who are grieving here in Waterloo, for people who are grieving around the world, and to stand in solidarity with all of Canada's universities who will be marking a minute's silence together at 1 p.m.," Manning said.

The University of Waterloo has planned the memorial to remember the lives of everyone who died and two students who studied at the campus.

Mansour Esnaashary Esfahani was completing a PhD in civil engineering. Marzieh (Mari) Foroutan was a PhD candidate in geography.

Manning says the memorial will also honour Dr. Neda Sadighi, who was a student at UW's school of optometry.