LOSS IS STILL DEEP ONE YEAR AFTER CRASH OF FLIGHT PS752
Mourning our loved ones, we shall never forget, says Amin Kamaleddin.
It was just another Tuesday evening for me. I was at the gym with some of my friends exercising, when the media started reporting that Iran had launched missiles on U.S. bases in Iraq in revenge for the death of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. We were just a couple of days into 2020, with hopes of going after our new resolutions (exercise being one of them), and already the hashtag #WW3 was trending. Could this turn into a new war in the Middle East? It was a stressful moment for my friends and I who had relatives and friends in Iran, but it turned out the new year had something else to offer.
Later that evening, we heard more troubling news: Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 crashed just shortly after takeoff near Tehran. It was tragic, but I did not realize exactly how tragic until the next morning.
The day after, I found out most passengers on the flight were taking transit from
Kyiv to Toronto. The names of the victims were released every minute. I was shocked: so many familiar names, including Mohammad Amin Beiruti. I Googled the name to confirm and found out I had lost one of my good friends. By 10 a.m., I knew at least eight members of the University of Toronto community were killed, including six students. Three of those six students were my friends.
Mohammad Amin Beiruti was just “Amin” to me. His mentors and supervisors described him as a natural leader and an ambitious young man with bright ideas. To me, he was a caring friend with such calm and respectful manners. Most of the passengers on Flight PS752 were Iranian-Canadian citizens or students like Amin coming back to Canada after their Christmas break.
We immediately all came together after hearing of the crash and received so much support from our local community, including the university, city, government officials and even our neighbours. We could not stop grieving for those lost lives, but we hoped a memorial on the Friday night following the crash at the University of Toronto would help us calm down a little.
It indeed did. The memorial served as a reminder to all of us about how much we care about each other and how much we value our friendships. Our sorrow, tears, and emotions helped us keep our hope and strength despite such difficult times. After the memorial, I kept reminding myself this is not the end of the world. I had lost three good friends, but at least World War III was not on the horizon.
Late on Friday evening, I found out in horror that the aircraft was shot down by two missiles launched by Iran itself. This started a world war of sorts, but in my heart.
It's been a year since I've seen my friends. So many teachers have not seen their students, so many parents have not seen their children, and so many siblings have not seen each other. But we still do not know who to blame for such a tragedy. We should do better to help the families of PS752 victims through the hardship of seeking justice.
Shall we never forget, nor forgive.