More stories of the lives lost in Iran
On Wednesday, Jan. 8, a jetliner operated by Ukrainian International Airlines crashed shortly after taking off in Iran. All 176 people on board were killed, including138 people who were set to connect to Canada. As tributes and details emerge about the victims, the Star is sharing what we’ve learned of those who lived here.
Sharieh Faghihi, Halifax Dalhousie University released a statement Thursday confirming Dr. Sharieh Faghihi was killed in the crash.
Born in Tehran, Faghihi immigrated to Canada in 2011with her husband and two children. After graduating from Dalhousie in 2016, she returned to the faculty to teach in the Division of Periodontology in 2017 and also worked in private practice in Halifax. According to an alumni magazine, she also helped establish a dental centre for disabled children in need in Tehran.
Faghihi was an “absolute joy,” said LJ Turnbull, regional manager for Dentalcorp.
“One of the kindest human beings,” Turnbull said. “She had a fantastic sense of humour and she was great with the patients … She was friends with everybody on the team.”
Another colleague, dentist Ebrahim Kiani, said he first met Faghihi 25 years ago when she was head of the periodontics department at the Shiraz University of Medical Science in Iran.
“She was very kind, very generous with her knowledge and very skilled,” Kiani said. “She was published in many journals … She was a good mentor for me.”
Dawn Collins told the Star she was a patient of hers.
She paid tribute to her “maternal presence” in a Facebook post, saying she made her feel more comfortable in the dentist chair.
“I always felt she was very loving in her work and nurturing,” Dawn Collins said. “Appreciate her.”
Mohammad Moeini, Sherbrooke, Que. Mohammad Moeini, a resident of Sherbrooke, Que., has been identified as a victim of the plane crash.
According to his LinkedIn page, Moeini worked as a Mechanical Designer at Bombardier Recreational Products.
Sherbrooke Mayor Steve Lussier shared his condolences in a Facebook post.
George Brown students Kiana Ghasemi and Darya Toghian, Toronto Kiana Ghasemi was on her way to begin studies at George Brown College, family friend Mohammad Rastifar confirmed in a message to the Star.
“God bless her,” he said. Family friend Samira Akbari added Ghasemi was “really excited” about this new chapter in Canada.
“Her dad had tried so hard to send her over there,” she said over the phone from San Francisco. “It’s so sad.”
Darya Toghian was studying at George Brown College and was also killed in the crash.
The college did not release the names of the two students killed in the crash, but said one was studying in the architectural technology program and the other in the computer programmer analyst program.
“The shock and sorrow felt across Canada right now feels particularly heightened for us with the tragic deaths of two of our students. To those of you who studied and worked with the students we lost this week, I extend my deepest sympathies,” George Brown College president Anne Sado said.
“We share this grief and profound sense of loss with our colleagues across the post-secondary education community, who are also mourning the deaths of their co-workers and students — individuals who were preparing to take on the challenges of a new semester and were working towards bright futures. Honouring the memories of those who died may ease some of the anguish we’re all feeling.”
Mahmoud Attar, GTA Zohreh Attar was beside herself with worry, knowing her brother Mahmoud, 69, was about to board a plane to fly from Iran to Canada just as the area was brewing with war.
“I didn’t want to upset him, but I was so afraid. I texted him, told him to be careful.”
But he shrugged off her worries and instead texted back, asking what he could do for her and what she needed that he could buy in the airport and bring to Richmond Hill.
It was typically selfless Mahmoud, Zohreh said, always thinking about others, never himself.
He had been excited to help his 35-year-old daughter, Sahar Attar, decorate her new North York home. He was bringing her treasured items, dinnerware and photos from Iran, to make it her own.
“Before he left,” Sahar said, “he said, ‘Don’t worry, I have wrapped them very carefully so they won’t be broken on the way.’ ”
These were the last messages Zohreh and Sahar received from Mahmoud.
Zohreh, a resident of Richmond Hill since 2007, said Mahmoud loved Canada; Sahar smiled, remembering how delighted he always was to hear Canadian border officials say, “Welcome to Canada.”
Zahra Hasani, Toronto
Zahra Hasani was the wife of student Mohammad Salehe, who was also on board the plane.
They made a great couple, said longtime friend Seyed Hossein Mortazavi.
Salehe was a talented scientist who grew up with a love of computer programming, while Hasani wanted to do her master’s at the University of Toronto.
After completing two degrees from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, and working as a senior software engineer at a tech company, Salehe started his PhD in computer science at the University of Toronto, Mortazavi said.
“Although he was usually quiet, he was very active in multiple social and religious communities, always trying to be there for his friends and neighbours,” Mortazavi said.
“Zahra was caring, devoted to her friends and family,” he said. The two were on their way back from visiting family in Iran after the last school term.
Masoud Shaterpour Khiaban, GTA
The young man was about to begin his studies at York University’s school of continuing studies, York confirmed.
He was supposed to be doing a post-graduate certificate in the business administration program.
“We are heartbroken by this news,” said president and vicechancellor Rhonda L. Lenton in a statement.
“On behalf of the York community, we extend our heartfelt condolences to everyone affected by this tragedy.”
Niloofar Rastgar spoke to his father’s cousin Shaterpour over text in the months prior to the fall of Ukraine International Airlines 752.
They spoke about Shaterpour moving to Canada and beginning his new life at York University to earn his MBA. Rastgar, who said he may have only met Shaterpour once or twice as a little kid, said Shaterpour had made quite the impression through the short, brief text messages.
“I could tell that he was a hard working, well-educated and kind person,” Rastgar said, noting that Shaterpour, 31, had a medical degree from a university in Iran. “He was a self made person.”
Rastgar, who lives in Vancouver, said Shaterpour’s mother passed away when he was a teenager and his father had died about four months ago.
“He had two brothers and two sisters who are in shock and mourning for him.”
Shahrokh Eghbali Bazoft, Maryam Agha Miri and Shahzad Eghbali Bazoft, Toronto
Shahrokh Eghbali Bazoft, his wife, Maryam Agha Miri, and their eight-year-old daughter, Shahzad Eghbali Bazoft, lived in Toronto and all died together, said Sharokh’s niece, Nadia Eghbali.
Eghbali said her uncle was a kind soul and a charismatic person.
“It was really hard not to like him because he was so kind. He had the best stories with funny voices and expressions that he would make,” Eghbali said on the phone from Chicago. “He had everyone laughing, including himself.”
Shahzad, a Grade 3 student at Dallington Public School, was “a very creative and curious student,” a letter sent out by the school reads. “She enjoyed coming to school and approached her learning with enthusiasm.”
School officials wrote that Shahzad’s “thinking was out of the box and she brought new, innovative ideas to her classmates.”
“Maryam was a kind person, a devoted mother, wife and friend,” Eghbali said. “She always made us feel welcome, she made you feel loved.”
Eghbali said Shahzad had a creative mind.
“She had a great giggle and she just meant so much to her parents,” she said.
“They were a wonderful family and they’ll be truly missed.”
Pegah Safar Poor Koloor, GTA
York University identified Pegah Safar Poor Koloor as one of three students lost in the tragedy. Koloor was a first-year Faculty of Science student, studying biology.
York joined universities across the country in paying tribute to the victims of the crash with a moment of silence on Wednesday.
Insight: The faces of Flight 752, IN1