The Australian
July 17, 2009 Friday
1 – All-round Country Edition

Aussie siblings on crash flight

by Ehssan Veiszadeh

TWO members of the Armenian-Australian community are thought to have
been on the Caspian Airlines plane that crashed in Iran on Wednesday,
killing all on board.

Community sources believe siblings Arin and Ani Melkomabkar were the
two Australians on board the flight.

An Armenian-Australian woman who asked not to be named said her
daughter was close friends with Ani.

“She was a very good girl,” the woman said. “She was so pious and
humble.”

Her daughter had been planning to accompany Ani on her trip to Iran
but had to cancel due to work commitments. “To think my daughter
could have easily been with her on that flight is so frightening,”
the woman said.

“Ani gave so much of her time to the community, volunteering to teach
Armenian on the weekends.”

Ms Melkomabkar taught Armenian to Year 1 students at Sydney’s
Toumanian Armenian Saturday school.

Although four independent sources have confirmed the identities with
The Australian, confusion still remains in the Armenian
community. “The Department of Foreign Affairs isn’t giving us any
information and even though everyone has accepted that Ani and Arin
were the ones, there is still a bit of doubt in the back of our
heads,” said the Armenian source.

The two Australians were among 153 passengers and 15 crew on Caspian
Airlines flight 7908 from Tehran to Yerevan, Armenia, when it crashed
on Wednesday, local time.

DFAT said assistance was being provided to the family of the two
victims.

Iranian authorities have said there were no survivors from the
crash. They have told consular staff they are not aware of any other
Australians on board the flight.