Coquitlam memorial mourns family of three lost in Tehran crash
Credit to Author: David Carrigg| Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2020 02:35:27 +0000
The impact of Ardalan Ebnoddin-Hamidi on Tri-City’s Iranian community was on display under a bleak Coquitlam sky Sunday, as hundreds of mourners waited quietly and patiently outside a condo tower so they could access elevators to attend a memorial service for Ebnoddin-Hamidi and his family — wiped out in a few moments of terror last week.
“He was always about the community and participating in social and political activities,” said Behzad Abdi, who was on the Tri-City Iranian Cultural Society board of directors with Ebnoddin-Hamidi and first met him at university in Tehran in the 1990s. “He worked a lot so everybody knew him. I’m very happy that right now he can see the amount of people he impacted. He would say thank you, and be very interested.”
A celebration of life for Ardalan Ebnoddin-Hamidi and his family, and all other passengers of Flight PS752, in Coquitlam on Jan. 12.
Ebnoddin-Hamidi, his wife, Niloofar Razzaghi, and 15-year-old son, Kamyar Ebnoddin-Hamidi, all perished last Wednesday when a Ukraine International Airlines flight from Tehran to Toronto, via Ukraine, crashed shortly after takeoff killing all 176 souls on-board. That included at least 57 Canadians, of whom at least 14 were from B.C.
“They are wiped out,” Abdi said, showing the strain of five days of mourning.
He said he struggled to find a gathering space at short notice on a Sunday, so settled for the party space on the second-floor of a condo tower in Coquitlam Town Centre. The space, where visitors shared stories and looked over family photos, was booked for three hours, but most arrived at the 3 p.m. start of the event.
There was no chaos or frustration shown by any of the hundreds of people who joined a long line in the light rain to enter the elevators. Some were sad, others smiled, but all showed great patience.
“We are just supporting the family emotionally,” said Abdi. “He had one son and his immediate family is gone. But his sister and brothers also lived here and you see the family in the people here today.”
A celebration of life for Ardalan Ebnoddin-Hamidi and his family, and all other passengers of Flight PS752, in Coquitlam on Jan. 12.
Close to 48,000 people in B.C. describe their ethnic origin as Iranian, roughly a quarter of the 210,000 people of Iranian-born Canadians across the country. Most in B.C. live on the North Shore and in the Tri-Cities.
Abdi said Ebnoddin-Hamidi — a civil engineer — and Niloofar — a schoolteacher — worked hard to encourage Iranian Canadians to engage in the political and democratic process at all levels of government, something not allowed in present-day Iran. Their son Kamyar was everything to the couple, said Abdi. Kamyar was a talented soccer player who attended Riverside Secondary School in Port Coquitlam.
The Tri-City Iranian Cultural Society is hosting a seventh-day vigil Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. at Glen Spirit Square Park (across from city hall) at 3000 Burlington Dr. in Coquitlam.
Also on Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — speaking at a memorial in Edmonton — said it’s been “gut-wrenching” to listen to stories from relatives of the 57 Canadians who perished in the downing of the Ukrainian jetliner.
Trudeau said he had learned many of the victims came to Canada in search of new opportunities for their families, but those families were now consumed by grief and outrage.
The plane was shot down by an Iranian missile moments after taking off from Tehran on Wednesday. Iran has admitted the plane was mistaken for a hostile target amid soaring tensions with the U.S.
Trudeau labelled it a Canadian tragedy.
“While no words can ease the pain, the grief, the outrage, it is my sincere hope that you can find some comfort in knowing that all Canadians stand with you,” he said. “This tragedy should never have occurred. We will not rest until there are answers. We will not rest until there is justice and accountability.”
Ardalan Evnoddin-Hamidi, 48, Niloofar Razzaghi, 45, and, Kamyar Ebnoddin Hamidi, 15, of Coquitlam were among the passengers killed when Ukrainian airliner crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran on Wednesday.
Trudeau said he demanded that Canada be fully involved in the investigation, including gaining access to the airplane’s black boxes, and being allowed to participate in DNA identification of the victims. He also demanded consular access for Canadian officials to work with grieving families of Canadian victims in Iran.
Three members of Canada’s standing rapid deployment team arrived Saturday in Iran to establish a base of operations for the Canadian government after the crash.
Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Sunday that Iran has approved visas for six more members of the team, who are currently in Ankara, Turkey, as well as for two experts from the Transportation Safety Board. The eight are to travel to Iran on Monday, Champagne said.
The TSB said Sunday it also planned to deploy a second team of investigators who specialize in aircraft recorder download and analysis.
The government’s efforts to get officials on the ground in Tehran have been complicated by the fact that Canada severed all ties with Iran in 2012, shuttering its embassy and recalling all diplomats.
—With files from The Canadian Press
Celebration of life for Ardalan Hamidi and his family and all other passengers of flight PS752 in Coquitlam, BC, January 12, 2020.
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