By The Canadian Press
Rescue workers search the scene where a Ukrainian plane crashed as the bodies of victims in body bags lie on the ground, in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Canada’s air crash investigators will be “fully in place” in Tehran tonight, and other experts may be dispatched as needed to help with the fallout from last week’s deadly crash of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752.
The head of the Transportation Safety Board will provide an update on its work this afternoon.
Its investigators are seeking access to the plane’s flight data recorders, known as the “black boxes,” to help with the investigation being led by Iran’s civil aviation authority.
Iran admitted over the weekend that one of its own missiles took down the Boeing 737-800, but called it a horrible mistake.
All 176 on board were killed, including 138 people who were headed for Canada.
Champagne tweeted Monday afternoon that all visas had been approved for investigators and Canadian consular officials who are helping grieving families.
Earlier Monday, Canadian Jewish and Iranian organizations reiterated their demands for the federal government to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity.
Doing so would remove a legal obstacle and enable Canadian victims to sue the Iranian government under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act.
