11th January, 2020
Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne said the number of Canadian citizens in the ill-fated Ukraine Airlines plane is 57, not 63 as initially claimed.
Champagne said the new figure was based on the latest information available in the crash of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on Wednesday. None of the 176 passengers and crew aboard the airliner survived.
“This is a very fluid situation. We said that from the get-go in terms of identifying the number of victims which would be Canadians on board,” said Champagne told reporters on Friday.
The lower total was arrived at based on additional information about birth dates and comparing travel documents, he said.
Meanwhile Canada is joining Iran to investigate the crash. Prime Minister Trudeau, US President Trump and Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson believe the plane was shot down by Iran’s anti-missile system in error.