As many as 100 AIDS researchers, activists and health workers may have been aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 when it was shot down Thursday, reports Karen Weintraub of USA Today.
“There’s been confirmed a number of senior people who were coming out here who were researchers, who were medical scientists, doctors, people who’ve been to the forefront of dealing with AIDS across the world,” Victoria Premier Denis Napthine told reporters in Melbourne on Friday. “The exact number is not yet known, but there is no doubt it’s a substantial number.”
According to the Australian newspaper, up to 108 delegates were headed to the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne.
“At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy,” the statement said.
