Amid the garish glare of Yonge-Dundas Square, more than a hundred mourners clutched candles, waved flags and comforted each other as they grieved for a Toronto freelance photographer killed Sunday in a Syrian explosion.

Ali Mustafa, 29, who was documenting the horrors of Syria’s civil war, was killed in the northern city of Aleppo by a bomb dropped from a government aircraft, activists said.

Mustafa’s sister, Justina Rosa Botelho, confirmed his death after activists sent her a photograph of his body.

“He just wanted the world to know about human rights and all the horrible things going on down there,” Botelho told The Associated Press. “He was passionate for the world to know.”

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Photo tribute to Ali Mustafa

Born in Toronto to Egyptian and Portuguese immigrant parents, Mustafa had been in Syria since early February.

Maher Azem, who organized the Toronto vigil, first met Mustafa in 2012 when the photographer was in Egypt covering the revolution.

Mustafa first visited Syria last March and returned because he was driven by a desire to tell the West of the people’s suffering using his photography, Azem said.

“He felt the urge to help. He felt there was a disconnect between what the people are seeing here and what’s happening on the ground.”

At first, Mustafa’s goal was to take portraits of Syrian families, which he planned to exhibit in North America to raise the profile of the Syrian cause, Azem said.

But in recent weeks, he was taking a more active role, helping rescue Syrian civilians in war-torn neighbourhoods, Azem said.

Mustafa was trying to help in the aftermath of an initial attack when the second airstrike killed him, said Azem, who spoke with Syrian activists after the explosion.

Seven other people were also killed when a Syrian government aircraft dropped two explosive-laden containers in the rebel-held Hadariyeh area of Aleppo, an activist who identified himself as Abu al-Hassan Marea told The Associated Press.

At the candlelight vigil Sunday night, Talal Kanaan remembered Mustafa from his days as a University of Toronto student.

“He stood for very firm values. He was promoting social justice in all its forms. He stood for that in his writings, in his photography, in his activism,” Kanaan said.

While in Syria, Mustafa sold his photographs to the European Pressphoto Agency and Sipa Press news agencies.

“At a time when not so many journalists ventured there, one could see that Mustafa was very sensitive and really cared for everything and everybody around him,” said Amel Pain, an editor with European Pressphoto Agency.

Mustafa’s photos from Israel and the Palestinian territories displayed at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2012. His work and writings were showcased on his blog, From Beyond The Margins, where he talked about his experiences in Syria as well as features exploring civil rights issues across the Middle East.

His family was not aware he was in Syria. They were last in contact a week ago, when Mustafa told his sister he was in Turkey, Botelho said.

“He wanted to tell mom he was OK,” she said. “He never told me he was in Syria. I guess he was trying to hide that.”

In a July 2013 interview, Mustafa said he first travelled to Syria because he could not ignore the human tragedy.

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“I felt it was important to go there to cover the war firsthand,” Mustafa said. “In a way, I’m also fascinated by war not in the gory sense but in the way it impacts us as human beings. What does it take away? What does it leave behind? Most importantly, what does it transform us into?”

Syria is the world’s most dangerous conflict for reporters. Since the uprising began in March 2011, dozens of journalists have been kidnapped or killed both by forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebels seeking his overthrow.

Barrel bombs dropped by Syrian military helicopters have also been extremely deadly for civilians, because they cannot be precisely targeted. The bombs in Aleppo have killed hundreds of people after blowing apart homes, vehicles and shops, and caused thousands to flee their neighbourhoods.

With files from Jodee Brown and The Associated Press

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