EDITOR’S NOTE: On Jan. 10, the Canadian government updated the number of Canadians killed in the Jan. 8 Ukraine International Airlines crash in Iran from 63 to 57.
A 19-second video posted online and reportedly verified by The New York Times claims to show an Iranian missile striking Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, shortly before it crashed on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board — including 63 Canadians.
The New York Times says the video shows the missile striking the Boeing 737-800 above Parand, which is located close to Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport.
Filmed vertically, the video shows a bright flash of light in the sky in the first three seconds. A few seconds later, a loud bang can be heard.
“A small explosion occurred when a missile hit the plane, but the plane did not explode, the video showed,” according to the Times report.
Global News has not verified the video. The footage was shared by Nariman Gharib, who said he received it from a source.
The Times noted on Twitter that Bellingcat — an open-source investigative news website — has independently verified the location of the video.
The crash claimed the lives of 63 Canadians, many of whom were returning home from winter break in Iran.
Many were PhD students, graduate students, and international students studying at more than 20 universities and colleges across Canada.
The video emerged shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadian intelligence suggested the plane crash was likely caused by an Iranian missile.
“We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence, that indicates the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile,” he said at a press conference.
“This may well have been unintentional.”
The Ukraine International Airlines flight crashed hours after Iranian missile strikes targeted two Iraqi bases with U.S. troops on Tuesday, in response to the U.S. airstrike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani last week.
The flight took off 6:12 a.m. Wednesday Tehran time, ascending to an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet as it flew west, according to an Iranian report and flight-tracking data.
Some commercial airlines announced on Wednesday that they have re-routed their flights due to the escalating tensions in the Middle East.
One aviation consultant told The Associated Press that a minimum of 500 commercial flights travel through Iranian and Iraqi airspace every day.
— With files by The Associated Press, Global News staff
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