Candlelight vigil held in Ajax for UW grad killed in Malaysian plane crash

Friends and family gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil held in remembrance of Andrei Anghel, the 24-year-old medical student from Ajax who was killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed over Ukraine.

“The amount of support that we’re getting is incredible,” Andrei’s sister Alexandra told CityNews. “It’s incredible how many people knew him and loved him and it feels good to know that so many people are going to be remembering him.”

Candles were lit in the shape of a heart around Anghel’s longboard and balloons were released into the air in honour of his life.

“This is not an easy thing to deal with at all but it helps that so many people care,” said Alexandra.

Anghel had just finished his second year of medical school in Romania and was en route to Bali with his girlfriend, Olga, to celebrate at the time of the crash.

Anghel was the sole Canadian among the 298 people killed after a surface-to-air missile brought down the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight Thursday over Ukraine.

At least 189 of the victims were from the Netherlands. Passengers on the plane also included 29 Malaysians, 28 Australians, 12 Indonesians, nine Britons, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos and one person each from Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong, according to the airlines and those governments. Two passengers’ nationalities remained to be confirmed.

With files from The Canadian Press

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