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A spokesman from the University of Waterloo said two of its PhD students were on the passenger list. McMaster University in Hamilton also said two of its graduate students — Iman Aghabali and Mehdi Eshaghian, both PhD students in the faculty of engineering — appeared to be on board.

The University of Toronto said six of its students — identified as Mojtaba Abbasnezhad, Mohammad Asadi Lari, Zeynab Asadi Lari, Mohammad Amin Beiruti, Mohammad Amin Jebelli and Mohammad Saleheh — were listed on the flight manifest.

Another Toronto institution, York University, said one of its students was also killed in the crash. George Brown College, also in Toronto, said a student in the architectural technology program was among the dead. Neither publicly identified the students.

Public school students in and around Toronto were also reeling in the aftermath of the crash, with Canada’s largest school board saying a number of its students and their relatives had died. The Toronto District School Board said at least one of its employees had also lost a family member.

In a statement, the board said it was “heartbroken” and had brought in social workers to help those affected.

One of the students who died was identified as Maya Zibaie, a Grade 10 student at Northern Secondary School in Toronto. In a letter to parents, the school’s principal says Zibaie was new to Canada and excited about her future.

“Maya was kind, happy and well-liked by her peers,” Adam Marshall wrote. “Maya will be sorely missed. Our entire school community is in shock and some of our students are understandably upset.”

Meanwhile, the York Region District School Board north of Toronto said it was aware of several students killed in the crash, but did not provide further details.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, which represents public high school teachers, also said one of its employees died in the crash.

A dental office in Aurora, Ont., said one of its dentists and her daughter were killed in the crash. E & E Dentistry said Parisa Eghbalian was travelling with her daughter Reera Esmaeilion when the plane went down.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 8, 2020.