Langara student identified as one of the victims of deadly Tehran plane crash

By Lauren Gargiulo and Kristian Trevena

A Langara international student was among the 176 victims of the Boeing 737 crash near Tehran on Wednesday. 

Delaram Dadashnejad was a graduate of Langara’s English for Academic Purposes program, also known as LEAP, and was taking university transfer classes. 

Dadashnejad, an international student from Tehran, was one of the 176 aboard Ukrainian International flight PS752 flying from Tehran to Kyiv.

A statement by Lane Trotter, president and CEO of Langara College, said that Dadashnejad was visiting family in Tehran and was flying back to Vancouver. 

According to the CBC, a friend of Dadashnejad’s said she had postponed her original December return flight because her student visa had not arrived on time.

Kamaljeet Kaur, an international student studying kinesiology, said that the international student community at Langara is struggling with the news. 

“We are already facing so many troubles here,” Kaur said. “When we hear such news we get mentally disturbed because we always think about their families, how are they going to survive?”

Sixty-three Canadians were killed in the crash. This is the highest number of Canadian fatalities due to an airplane disaster since the Air India bombing on June 23, 1985. 

Counselling services are available to students and faculty, said Trotter in his statement. 

Instructors of the LEAP program were unavailable to comment. 

This story will be updated as developments continue.