Hundreds of people gathered in North York Thursday evening to express their sorrow and anger over the air disaster near Tehran that killed 176 people on Wednesday.

Mourners gathered at two separate vigils, one outside in a dark and chilly Mel Lastman Square, and the other inside at the nearby North York Civic Centre. At both events attendees, many of them members of the Iranian-Canadian community, lit candles and laid flowers in front of pictures of the victims. Outside, they played the Canadian national anthem, followed by the Iranian one, as mourners waved red, white, and green Iranian flags.

Sixty-three of those killed on Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 were Canadian citizens, and more had ties to the country.

Many in the crowd said they were friends or coworkers of people killed in the disaster.

Marjan Gholani walked through the crowd outside handing out halva, a sweet that’s traditionally served at funerals in Iran. She said she had worked with one of the victims, Parinaz Ghaderpanah, at RBC. Ghaderpanah’s husband Iman also died.

“I lost a friend,” Gholani said.

Mitra Jonoobi said she had been speaking with one of the victims via text message moments before the flight took off. Jonoobi said Sheyda Shadkhoo was a close friend who had been visiting family back home in Iran. Before she boarded the plane Shadkhoo sent a message to friends in Canada saying she and other passengers were nervous, because hours earlier Iran had launched a series of missiles at military bases hosting U.S. forces in Iraq.

The barrage was a response to the U.S. assassination of Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general.

“She told us everybody is frightened, and some of the people are crying because of the situation in the area,” Jonoobi said.

“I told her, please leave the airplane, tonight is very dangerous. The sky is full of missiles.”

But according to Jonoobi, Shadkhoo was worried that the escalating conflict unfolding in the Middle East would cause Iran to close its borders, which would have trapped her there.

“She took the risk, and her life was the price,” Jonoobi said.

Although the cause of the crash wasn’t initially known, on Thursday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that foreign and Canadian intelligence sources had evidence the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, possibly inadvertently. The Iranian government has denied its armed forces took down the aircraft.

Nazanin Babaei was at the vigil inside the civic centre, which was organized by the Iranian Canadian Congress and other groups. She said news that the disaster may have been caused by Iranian armed forces made the tragedy even worse.

“It makes me hate the regime even more,” she said.

Babaei said she also knew one of the people killed in the crash. She didn’t want to give the victim’s name, but said she was a family friend who had been killed with her 10-year-old child.

Babaei said the Iranian community in Canada is divided, with some people against the current regime and others more supportive of it.

But she said she took some comfort in being with other Iranian-Canadians after what has been “a very tragic two months” for her home country. In the weeks leading up to the air disaster this week, thousands of anti-government protesters had been killed by Iranian authorities.

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“I just need to get it out, to see people. We’re not alone,” she said, speaking through tears.

For some at the vigil, the Iranian government’s potential hand in the plane crash had turned sadness into fury. Outside, Mary Shirazi said she hoped Trudeau’s government would take action against the Iranian regime.

“We need justice. We’re expecting our prime minister to support (the Iranian) people,” Shirazi said.

Not all those who attended the vigil were Iranian-Canadian. Amir Towheed said he came to Mel Lastman Square to pay his respects to Farideh Gholami, who was one of his employees at the Sherwin-Williams paint company. Her husband, Centennial College professor Razgar Rahimi, was also killed on the flight, as was the couple’s 3-year-old son Jiwan. According to Towheed, Gholami was pregnant when she died.

“They didn’t even get a chance to live their life. That’s what really hurts,” Towheed said.

He described Gholami as a “fantastic mother, fantastic coworker, even better friend.”

“(She) just really brought the best out in everybody, I think that’s why we’re so impacted,” he said.

Although the vigils were mostly peaceful, a skirmish erupted at the doors of the indoor event when a man shouting anti-Iranian regime slogans attempted to push through the crowd and enter. Some attendees told the Star some organizers of the the vigil inside the civic centre were more sympathetic to the Iranian government than those who staged the outside event.

The man wasn’t allowed to enter, and after chanting loudly in the lobby of the building, eventually went outside.

A vigil will be held Friday night, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 1761 Sheppard Ave. E. hosted by the Iranian Women’s Organization of Ontario office.

On Saturday afternoon in Nova Scotia, a vigil is planned at Dalhousie University Club.

Hundreds gathered across the country Wednesday night to mourn in the bitter cold in Edmonton and Toronto.

The crash is among the deadliest air disasters involving Canadians.

With files from the Star’s May Warren

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