Mr. Speaker, on the night of May 3, an Armavia airlines Airbus A320 crashed in the Black Sea. All 113 passengers, most of whom were from Armenia, were killed.
The accident, allegedly caused by poor weather conditions, occurred after the aircraft turned toward Adler airport near Sotchi, in southern Russia.
This tragedy is the worst air disaster ever to occur in Armenia. Many families were decimated, and a number of children lost their lives.
Armenia has declared two days of national mourning, today and tomorrow, to remember its victims.
My sympathies go out to the Armenian community at this difficult time, and I share Armenians' pain. I pray for the families and offer them my sincere condolences.
In closing, I invite all my colleagues to express their sympathies to the Armenian National Committee of Canada, here in Ottawa.