ARASH POURZARABI, AND POUNEH GORJI

Arash Pourzarabi, 26, and Pouneh Gorji, 25, were married in Iran just seven days before they died. The newlyweds were travelling back to Edmonton to continue their master’s degrees in the Department of Computing Science at the University of Alberta.

Both were brilliant students: Pourzarabi had been part of a top academic competition at home before moving to Canada. The pair were soulmates and excited about getting married, said Amir Forouzandeh, a friend and classmate who had helped them pick out their wedding clothes.

“If you met them even once, you could tell that these two belong together,” he said. “We all knew that they were going to end up together, for sure. It was just a matter of time... They were basically the kindest souls that I knew, honestly,” Forouzandeh said. “And since day one that I got to know them and hang out with them, it was a blast, like every day.”

Amir Samani, who is in the same academic program, said they did everything together.

“They are like a family, definitely more than friendship. We were hanging (out) all the time, we were doing everything together,” he said.

Now that they are gone, he can’t believe it. “I’m in big denial right now; I can’t understand what’s going through my mind. I even checked my phone to see if he is going back online again? Are we going to talk again? I don’t know. It’s crazy.”

The couple had planned to have a small wedding ceremony in Edmonton with friends when they returned.