WINDSOR, Ontario – U.S. officials said Thursday it was “highly likely” that an Iranian anti-aircraft missile downed a Ukrainian jetliner late Tuesday, killing all 176 people on board.
Preliminary reports claim the pilots never made a radio call for help before the flight went down.
Read: US officials: ‘Highly likely’ Iran downed Ukrainian jetliner
Both of the “black boxes” containing flight data and cockpit communications from the plane were recovered though they were damaged.
Many of the passengers on board were international students attending schools in Canada, including five students from the University of Windsor.
RELATED: University of Windsor names 5 people killed in Ukrainian plane crash in Iran
Photos of the five students were presented in the engineering building at the University of Windsor. Friends gathered in a stunned silence.
Sameneh Mehri, a student from Iran, is best friends with Samira Bashiri.
“I couldn’t convince myself that she was on that flight,” Mehri said.
Bashiri and her husband were both killed in the crash.
Robert Gordon, the university president, said the campus is mourning for the students that had bright futures ahead of them.