Private Garrett Chidley, three other soldiers and journalist Michelle Lang died when their armoured vehicle hit a powerful improvised explosive device Wednesday on the edge of Kandahar city. (Canadian Press/Sgt. Daren Kraus)

The father of a Canadian soldier killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb while on a security detail in Afghanistan is calling the violent loss of his son "a parent's worst nightmare."

Pte. Garrett Chidley, 21, along with three other Canadian Forces soldiers and a Vancouver-born journalist, died after the armoured vehicles they were riding in struck an improvised explosive device in Kandahar City.

'I just don't know what I'm going to do now.'—Cam Chidley, father of Pte. Garrett Chidley

Cpl. Zachery McCormack, 21, Sgt. Kirk Taylor, 28, Sgt. George Miok, 28, and Michelle Lang, a 34-year-old reporter for the Calgary Herald, also died in the bomb blast, which happened at about 4 a.m. local time.

"It's terrible. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy," Cam Chidley said in a brief interview with CBC News outside his home in Langley.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do now. It's a nightmare, a parent's worst nightmare," he said.

The fatal explosion occurred just 1,500 metres from the Dand district centre, which Canadian soldiers helped rebuild after a suicide bombing in April. The attack came during a community security patrol to gather information on patterns of life.

Chidley was based in Shilo, Man., and was an infantryman in the 2^nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He was serving with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar, a statement from CFB Shilo said.

'Proud and happy' to be part of mission

It was the young soldier's first overseas tour of duty. Cam Chidley said his son was proud to be in Afghanistan as part of the Canadian combat and reconstruction effort.

"He was proud and happy to go there. He worked hard to get there. He was proud of his buddies, proud of what he was up to," he said.

The young soldier was born in Cambridge, Ont., and raised in Langley. He has a brother and a sister, Chidley said.

Brig.-Gen Daniel Ménard, the top commander in Kandahar, gave glowing reports of Chidley, and described him as a young man with a likable, lighthearted demeanor and strong work ethic.

"Garrett was always ready to lend a hand and made tough tasks seem easy by joking around to lighten the mood," Ménard said.

Ménard described Chidley as "a great driver, the one you wanted for difficult tasks." He clearly loved his family, Ménard added.

"He loved talking about his family, especially about how much fun he and his dad together."