TORONTO -- Two candlelight vigils were held in North York on Thursday evening to mourn the loss of the 63 Canadians killed in a plane crash in Iran.
Dozens gathered at Mel Lastman Square to pay tribute to the more than 40 victims from the Greater Toronto Area including multiple students from the Toronto District School Board, York Region District School Board and several post-secondary schools.
Toronto Mayor John Tory was in attendance and admitted that he was at a loss for words as he was surrounded by Toronto's grieving Iranian community.
"I almost don’t know what to say," Tory said as he addressed the crowd, many of whom were seen crying.
"People have lost loved ones, friends, coworkers and I think what we should be doing is making sure that while they [the federal government] find answers, we occupy ourselves by bringing the community together, starting the healing process, which will take a long, long time."
The fountain at Mel Lastman Square was the base of the makeshift memorial where members of Toronto's Iranian community placed flowers, candles and teddy bears.
Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 to Kyiv went down minutes after taking off from Tehran's main international airport on Wednesday morning. The plane crashed into farmland outside of the capital killing all 176 people on board
The flight took off after nearly an hour’s delay at Imam Khomeini Airport and gained altitude heading west, reaching nearly 8,000 feet, according to flight-tracking data.
In a news conference held Thursday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the federal government has intelligence that indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian missile, possibly by accident.
An initial Iranian investigative report stated that the crew of the jetliner never made a radio call for help and were trying to turn back for the airport when the plane went down.
READ MORE: What we know so far about the GTA residents killed in the Iranian plane crash
While many in attendance expressed an overwhelming feeling of sadness, some said they were angry over reports that the tragedy could have been avoided.
"I’m just here because I can’t stay home," Mojgan Mahmoodian said speaking to CP24.
Mahmoodian said that her friend and former colleague Dr. Neda Sadighi was among the deceased and that they had seen eachother just eight days before the crash.
"I’m so sad and angry about what happened. This is not acceptable. They cannot do such a thing to people. This is not ok."
A seperate vigil, organized by Iranian Canadian Congress, was held inside the North York Civic Centre where friends and family of the victims were in attendance.
Speaking to CTV News Toronto, the organization's vice-president, Pouyan Tabasinejad, said like many Iranian-Canadians, he was shocked when he heard the news but understated the importance of mourning together.
"In these kinds of situations it’s extremely important for communities to come together to develop shared understandings in the world and to heal with one another," he said.
At one point, as emotions were running high inside the centre, a fight had broken out in the lobby between protesters and those attending the vigil. Speaking to CTV News Toronto, several people who speak Farsi said that the demonstrators were protesting against the "Iranian regime".
