AIDS researchers killed in Malaysia Airlines crash honored in L.A.

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Children walk past a piece of the wreckage in the village of Petropavlivka in eastern Ukraine. (Dmitry Lovetsky / Associated Press)

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Australian experts examine the area where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed in the village of Hrabove, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. (Dmitry Lovetsky / Associated Press)

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An artist in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, works July 24 on a mural in memory of the Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed in Ukraine. (Mohd Radfan / AFP/Getty Images)

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A convoy of hearses carrying the remains of victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines jet travels July 23 from Eindhoven Air Base to Hilversum in the Netherlands. (Remko De Waal / AFP/Getty Images)

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People watch from a bridge as a convoy of hearses carrying victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines jet travels July 23 to Hilversum in the Netherlands, where the bodies will be examined. (Jerry Lampen / AFP/Getty Images)

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A shopper leaves a note for the victims of the crashed Malaysia Airlines jet at a shopping mall near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 24. (Lai Seng Sin / Associated Press)

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Malaysian investigators along with members of a European observer mission in Ukraine examine a piece of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in the village of Petropavlivka on July 23. The crash site, in territory held by pro-Russia separatists accused by the Ukrainian government of shooting the plane down, remained unsecure five days after the disaster. (Dmitry Lovetsky / Associated Press)

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Investigators examine a piece of the downed aircraft in Petropavlivka in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday. Independent military analysts said Wednesday that the size, spread, shape and number of shrapnel impacts visible in an AP photograph of a piece of the wreckage all point to a missile system like the SA-11 Buk. (Dmitry Lovetsky / Associated Press)

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Police secure a train loaded with bodies from the Malaysia Airlines crash as it arrives in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on July 22. (Olga Ivashchenko / Associated Press)

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A pro-Russia separatist shows members of the media a black box from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 before handing it over to Malaysian representatives at a news conference in Donetsk, Ukraine. (AFP/Getty Images)

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Two KLM crew members reach into a sea of flowers at the Malaysian jet memorial at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. (Mike Corder / Associated Press)

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The train carrying Malaysia jet victims’ bodies arrives in the government-held Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. (Sergey Bobok / AFP/Getty Images)

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Working at a railway station in the eastern Ukrainian town of Torez on July 21, monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe examine train cars being used to carry the bodies of victims from the Malaysian airliner crash. The head of a Dutch forensic team said that the train was expected to set off later in the day to a place where “we can do our work.” (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images)

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Armed men block access to the main crash site of the Malaysia Airlines flight in eastern Ukraine on July 21. (Igor Kovalenko / EPA)

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Emergency crews working on July 21 carry a victim’s body in a plastic bag at the main crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine. (Dmitry Lovetsky / Associated Press)

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International forensic experts visit the site of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash near Hrabove in eastern Ukraine on July 21. (Dmitry Lovetsky / Associated Press)

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Pro-Russia separatists ride on a tank flying Russia’s flag on a road east of Donetsk, Ukraine, on July 21. (Vadim Ghirda / Associated Press)

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A photograph of Dutch school teacher Juf Helen Borgsteede is surrounded by floral tributes to the victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on July 19. (Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)

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Body bags hold victims of the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove in eastern Ukraine on Saturday. (Vadim Ghirda / Associated Press)

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Pro-Russia separatist leader Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, pauses during a news conference in Donetsk on July 19. (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images)

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Workers carry bodies of passengers recovered from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine on July 19. (Anastasia Vlasova / EPA)

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A woman places flowers in memory of Flight 17 victims in front of the Netherlands Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine. (Rob Stothard / Getty Images)

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Alexander Hug, center, deputy chief monitor of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe’s mission to Ukraine, examines wreckage near the town of Shaktarsk. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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A visitor reads a prayer for Malaysia jet passengers at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. (Mohd Rasfan / AFP/Getty Images)

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Friends of Nur Shazana Mohamed, a crew member aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, take part in a remembrance prayer at a mosque in Putrajaya, Malaysia. (Manan Vatsyayana / AFP/Getty Images)

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People react in front of the Netherlands Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, where there is a growing memorial for the 298 people who died after flight MH17 of Malaysia Airlines crashed in rebel-held eastern Ukraine. (Sergei Supinsky / AFP/Getty Images)

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Residents look at the site of a crashed Malaysia Airlines passenger plane near the village of Rozsypne, Ukraine. (Dmitry Lovetsky / Associated Press)

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Ukrainian coal miners search the site of a crashed Malaysia Airlines passenger plane near the village of Rozsypne, Ukraine. (Dmitry Lovetsky / Associated Press)

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A Buddhist prays as people lay flowers and light candles in front of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kiev, a day after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 carrying almost 300 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in eastern Ukraine. (Sergei Supinsky / AFP/Getty Images)

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President Barack Obama pauses while speaking about the situation in Ukraine on Friday in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington D.C. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

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US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power speaks during a Security Council meeting at the United Nations. The Security Council met to discuss the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight over Ukraine. (DON EMMERT / AFP/Getty Images)

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A pro-Russian militant inspects the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which crashed during a flight over eastern Ukraine. (Anastasia Vlasova / EPA)

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Malaysia Airlines regional vice president Huib Gorter speaks at a crowded press conference at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. The attack on a Malaysia jetliner Thursday afternoon killed 298 people from nearly a dozen nations, more than half being Dutch, including vacationers, students and a large contingent of scientists heading to an AIDS conference in Australia. (Phil Nijhuis / Associated Press)

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A man walks by the debris from the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which crashed while flying over the eastern Ukraine region near Donetsk. (Anastasia Vlasova / EPA)

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A Ukrainian police officer searches for human remains in a Grabovka field a day after the Malaysia jet downing. (Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images)

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Passengers’ belongings lie in a field after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flilght 17. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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A woman examines the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Grabovka, Ukraine. (Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images)

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A man examines wreckage of the passenger jet downed in Grabovka, Ukraine. (Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images)

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First aid workers gather at the crash site near Shakhtersk, Ukraine. U.S. officials say the jetliner was shot down by a surface-to-air missile but that it was unclear who fired the weapon. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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A firefighter douses flames at the site of the Malaysia Airlines jet wreckage. The plane carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held eastern Ukraine. (Alexander Khudoteply / AFP/Getty Images)

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The wreckage of the Malaysian jet burns near the town of Shakhtersk, in rebel-held eastern Ukraine. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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Oleksandr Boroday, center, self-proclaimed prime minister of the pro-Russia separatist “People’s Republic of Donetsk,” arrives at the scene of the crash. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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People inspect the site where a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane crashed near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine. (Dmitry Lovetsky / Associated Press)

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People walk among the burning debris of a crashed Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine. (Dmitry Lovetsky / Associated Press)

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A piece of wreckage from a Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed in eastern Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with 295 people aboard. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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Relatives of people onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 react at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. (Manan Vatsyayana / AFP/Getty Images)

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People wait for news at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. (Vincent Thian / Associated Press)

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Men walk amid the wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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Charred and twisted wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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An armed man in military fatigues walks among smoking wreckage of the airliner that crashed in eastern Ukraine. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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A charred piece of wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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A man stands amid the wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed in eastern Ukraine. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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Smoke rises from the wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed in eastern Ukraine. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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Pieces of wreckage from a Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed in eastern Ukraine. (Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images)

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Smoke rises from the wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed in eastern Ukraine. (Andrei Kashtanov / Associated Press)

By Los Angeles Times Staff

July 18, 2014 1:38 PM PT

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is holding a memorial today to honor the contingent of HIV researchers who were among the 298 people who perished when a Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

The foundation announced that it would create a memorial space in its building at 1811 N. Western Ave. in Hollywood, where the public was invited to bring flowers and other remembrances to honor the as many as 100 passengers on Flight 17 who were traveling to Melbourne, Australia, for the 20th International AIDS conference.

“To have so many people who have crossed the globe devoting their lives to helping humanity cut down in this fashion is an unspeakable tragedy,” Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said in a statement. “Our heart breaks for their families and loved ones.”

Organizers said the event, a leading forum for researchers to meet and discuss their work, would go on.

“In recognition of our colleagues’ dedication to the fight against HIV/AIDS, the conference will go ahead as planned and will include opportunities to reflect and remember those we have lost,” they said in a statement.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which had left Amsterdam, ended in a field Thursday near Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia. In a preliminary assessment, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that a missile fired from territory controlled by pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine brought down the passenger jet.

The dead were from at least 10 countries with the majority, 189, Dutch.

Among those lost was prominent researcher Joep Lange, a former president of the International AIDS Society, and his colleague, Jacqueline van Tongeren, according to the Academic Medical Center hospital in Amsterdam, where the pair worked.

A World Health Organization spokesman traveling to the conference was also killed.

“This is a moment for quiet reflection on the meaning of our lives and that of our loved ones. Now is also a time to renew our commitment to humanity,” Weinstein said in his statement. “We honor the dead best by continuing to fight for the living and truly appreciating one another.”

The memorial space at the foundation’s Hollywood building would be open through the day for the public to leave their remembrances.