McMaster students, alumnus reported among victims of plane crash in Iran
All 176 on board Ukrainian jet that crashed shortly after takeoff died, including at least 63 Canadians
Friends and colleagues are mourning the loss of two McMaster University engineering students and a former post-doctoral fellow who died in a plane crash in Iran Tuesday.
McMaster University confirmed Iman Aghabali and Mehdi Eshaghian, both PhD students in the faculty of engineering, and Siavash Maghsoudlou Estarabadi, a former post-doctoral fellow in the faculty of health sciences who left the university in 2018, were listed as passengers on a Ukrainian passenger jet that crashed soon after takeoff in Iran, killing all 176 on board.
“McMaster is a tightly knit community and there will be many faculty, staff, colleagues, friends and fellow students who need our support and caring at this tragic time,” said university president David Farrar in the release.
The jet crashed Tuesday night at 9:42 EST — or 6:12 a.m. Wednesday Tehran time.
Jennifer Bauman, an associate professor in McMaster’s department of electrical and computer
engineering and Aghabali’s co-supervisor, remembered him as “one of the best” students she’d ever worked with.
“He was optimistic, hard-working, kind and helpful to others, wanting everyone around him to have success as well as focused on his own success,” Bauman said.
She called the news shocking. “I don’t know what to do with the day, don’t know what to do next,” she said Wednesday.
Ali Mazaheri, a high school friend of Eshaghian’s who lives in Iran, said his friend had returned home to Isfahan, Iran, over the Canadian holidays to visit friends and family and pick up documents from a university in Tehran.
He remembered his friend as “so nice, so kind,” caring, humble, generous and smart.
Mazaheri said Eshaghian left Iran for Canada a year and a half ago for a better life and “brighter future.”
He last saw him two weeks ago. They went to a tea house.
“He order latte, I order hot chocolate,” Mazaheri said. “And he told me, ‘Again hot chocolate? Be a man, drink coffee.’ And I said, ‘Come on you always order latte.’”
He would have turned 25 in a week, Mazaheri said.
Students outside the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre (MARC) Wednesday said the mood inside the building was sombre.
“It’s quite heartbreaking to see people we see in the halls every day mourning the passing of these people,” said Ahsan Ayyaz, an undergraduate student.
Ayyaz said he didn’t know the two victims personally but would see them around the MARC building.
An Iranian friend of Maghsoudlou Estarabadi’s in Hamilton, who did not want her name published for fear of retribution if she returns to Iran, said he was travelling with his wife, Azadeh Kaveh, and 15- or 16year-old daughter, Paria. Their names are listed on the flight manifest. The family was living in Sweden, the friend said.
Dr. Sarah McDonald, a professor in Mac’s department of obstetrics and gynecology who worked with Maghsoudlou Estarabadi in Hamilton, remembered him as “a kind and thoughtful person.”
His research focused on the important issue of the causes of preterm birth, she said.
According to a 2017 McMaster newsletter, Maghsoudlou Estarabadi had just joined the department of obstetrics and gynecology as a post-doctoral fellow in perinatal clinical epidemiology. He completed his PhD from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and received his doctorate of medicine from Iran University of Medical Sciences.
A profile on McMaster’s website says Aghabali had a bachelors in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, and joined McMaster as a PhD student to pursue his research interests at McMaster’s automotive resource centre in 2017. His research focused on design and control of power electronics converters in hybrid electric vehicles applications.
The website says Eshaghian joined MARC in 2018 to pursue his master’s degree, and then PhD in mechanical engineering. He had previously graduated from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. His research interests included autonomous vehicles, robotics and control systems.
McMaster’s Iranian Students Association posted on its Facebook page: “Our deepest condolences go out to all victims of the Ukrainian Jetliner crash, two of which were our very own bright McMaster students.”
Yasamin Allahverdi and Danial Aminaei, the association co-presidents, said in a statement the association is working with the university to plan a vigil for the victims. They offered their condolences to the friends and family of Eshaghian and Aghabali.
“Mehdi and Iman were two kind souls who always celebrated Iranian traditions with our community,” the statement read.
The university is offering support services to anyone at the university impacted by the tragedy.
The Student Wellness Centre (ext. 27700) in the Peter George Living and Learning Centre is open to students, while faculty and staff can find support through the Employee and Family Assistance Program (1800-663-1142). The McMaster Chaplaincy Centre (ext. 24207) and International Student Services (ext. 24748) are also available.