Posted on 07/18/2014 5:41:49 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — About 100 of the passengers on the Malaysia Airlines flight that was shot down over the Ukraine on Thursday were reportedly AIDS scientists and researchers heading to Australia for a conference.
World Health Organization spokesperson Glenn Thomas was also among the victims.
The International AIDS Conference is taking place in Melbourne this weekend, organized by the International AIDS Society, who released a statement following the crash.
“The International AIDS Society (IAS) today expresses its sincere sadness at receiving the news that a number of colleagues and friends en route to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia, were on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine earlier today. 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.”
“Today, we apparently lost 100 of our best and brightest,” Cleve Jones, co-founder of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, told KPIX 5 Thursday night. “It’s just heartbreaking. We’re a family.”
Dr. Joep Lange of The Netherlands, a former president of the IAS and renowned HIV researcher was on board the flight.
Wonder if Putin knew this. Would shed some light on why the plane might have been targeted.
Really not in good taste.
I know that you think you’re being funny. But there’s nothing funny about a plane full of gays being shot down...
OTOH, if it had been a plane full of lawyers...
insert conspiracy theory here
He’s just looking for the silver lining.
parlay that with an earlier FR post with graph, saying the last 10 routes of same flight were on a path considerably south of this one going directly over a known danger zone, and it makes one wonder.
I’m appalled at the responses to your post. FR is better than that.
Are you really surprised? I’m not. Sadly it’s pretty much what I expected.
Just awful. Rest in peace.
Even then, we should have sympathy for the pilots, stewardesses, and their families!
There were reports of thunderstorms/inclement weather to the south and the plane took a more northerly route to avoid them.
Terrible! The loss of life would be horrible anyway, but the loss of these people - mostly scientists and doctors, I would assume, with a lot of specialized knowledge - magnifies the impact.
Some of the comments on this thread are disgusting, and I’m sorry the post got such a response.
Thank you.
That being said, does it really take a scientist to figure out how to stop the spread of AIDS?
Seems pretty simple to me.
People get AIDS in a variety of ways, ranging from gay sex and regular sex to blood transfusions, intravenous drug use, or having contact with infected blood or meat (it is thought to have started with monkey to human transmission in Africa, where people eat monkeys).
AIDS will get you one way or another if you are involved in that life style.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.