SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A San Diego student has been named among those killed when an international flight bound for Ukraine crashed in Iran.
Sara Saadat was a student at San Diego's Alliant International University campus in Scripps Ranch. She was a passenger on Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, according to the school.
In a statement to KGTV, the school said Saadat was visiting family in Iran and was heading back to San Diego to begin the spring 2020 semester. She was enrolled in the university's clinical psychology program.
"We extend our deepest sympathies to family and friends of Alliant Student Sara Saadat. Sara was a passenger on Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 that crashed in Iran. It appears that Sara was visiting family in Iran and was on her way back to San Diego to begin our spring 2020 term in our PsyD in Clinical Psychology program," the school's statement read. "We know that the entire Alliant community is affected when tragedy strikes any one of us, and we are here to provide support during these trying times."
The campus is providing on-site support from counselors from the school's student assistance program.
The flight bound for Ukraine crashed minutes after taking off from Tehran, Iran, this week. All 176 passengers on board were killed. CNN reported among those killed on the flight were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians , 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three British nationals.
The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. military. The attack was in response to a US rocket attack that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani last week.
While Iran has denied responsibility for the crash, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said intelligence agencies have concluded an Iranian missile caused the plane crash.
“We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. This may well have been unintentional,” Trudeau told the media.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday the U.S. believes Iran shot down the plane, adding that the U.S. will take "appropriate action" in response to the crash.
President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that he has "suspicions" about the crash as well.
"I have my suspicions," Trump told reporters. "It was flying in a pretty rough neighborhood and somebody could have made a mistake."
This story was originally published by Mark Saunders at KGTV.
