Canadians held a candlelight vigil in Ottawa on Thursday to remember the country's 63 people killed in a plane crash in Iran, on a day when the country's prime minister blamed the disaster on the Iranian regime.
Canada mourns loss of victims in Ukraine plane crash
On Parliament Hill in Ottawa, crowds of mourners arranged candles on the ground in the shape of a heart.
Braving chilly weather, they set photos of loved ones in front of the site's Centennial Flame monument at a vigil attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"So I didn't expect more than a 100-150 people coming here gathering at this freezing weather," said Kaveh Shakouri, an organizer of the vigil, who is working on sending the belongings of the victims back to grieving families in Iran.
"But it shows the support, shows the unity of the community.
So not only the Iranian community, people from all other communities were here, show their support.
You know, it means a lot.
It means a lot," Shakouri added.
The Ukraine airliner that crashed, killing all 176 people aboard, was likely brought down by an Iranian missile, Trudeau, said, citing intelligence from Canadian and other sources.
The flight was a popular transit route for Canadians traveling to Iran, in the absence of direct flights, and carried many students and academics heading home from the holidays.