The body of a soldier from Nova Scotia began its trip home from Afghanistan on Wednesday, while investigators continue to probe how his death occurred at Kandahar Airfield.

Members of Joint Task Force Afghanistan carry the body of Cpl. Kevin Megeney onto a C-130 Hercules aircraft Wednesday night at the airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
(Cpl. Dan Pop/DND)

Eight soldiers carried a flag-draped coffin containing the remains of Cpl. Kevin Megeney onto a C-130 Hercules aircraft Wednesday night as bagpipes played during a ramp ceremony.

"He was so young, full of life, a funny guy who was a friend to all," a chaplain said at the ceremony.

Megeney, 25, a reservist from Stellarton, N.S., died Tuesday evening. He was a member of the 1st Battalion Nova Scotia Highlanders.

His body is expected to arrive at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario at 1 p.m. Friday.

Megeney's family told CBC News he had been shot in the chest in his tent. He died 20 minutes later in hospital.

Hundreds of NATO soldiers, including many from Canada, stood at attention to show respect to the infantryman as his body was carried onto the plane.

His death is considered unusual because he was inside Kandahar Airfield, a secure area, and the fatal wound was not the result of enemy action.

Loaded weapon

Rules strictly prohibit off-duty soldiers on the base from carrying a loaded weapon.

Maj. Dale MacEachern, spokesman for Task Force Afghanistan, would not comment on the shooting.

"There is no new information I can provide you with at this time," MacEachern said.

Hundreds of NATO soldiers, including many from Canada, stood at attention to show respect to the infantryman as his body was carried onto the plane.
(Cpl. Dan Pop/DND)

"It could have been an accident. Before we can definitively say 100 per cent that it was, we have to let the investigation run its course, gather the facts and go from there."
 
Officers of the National Investigation Service are conducting the investigation.

Megeney had been in Afghanistan since December.

Cpl. Brent Bowden, 22, a pallbearer, is travelling home with Megeney's remains to attend the funeral. He and Megeney were members of the same militia regiment.

"Our platoon is like a family and Kev was like a brother to me," Bowden said.

Lisa Megeney, his sister, told the Canadian Press that the family received a call Tuesday morning from someone at the base.

They were told he had been shot in his left lung, but was still alive.

"He was yelling for someone to call his mother," she said. Later, the family was told that he had died.

Flags at half-mast in soldier's hometown

Megeney's death has shocked many people in his hometown. Flags were flying at half-mast Wednesday throughout Stellarton, a town of about 5,000 between Cape Breton and Halifax.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, the MP for the area, said the news hit him "like a lightning bolt." He was informed Tuesday afternoon in a call from Megeney's uncle.

"Kevin was an extraordinary young man and I know that his life's ambition was to be a soldier," MacKay told the New Glasgow News. "His pride in being a soldier was only exceeded in his family's pride in him."

MacKay remembers meeting Megeney at a military event in New Glasgow in November. He said he imagines the tight-knit Stellarton community in Pictou County will help Mageney's family through its grief.

"I know the Pictou County family is very supportive when traumatic times arrive," MacKay said. "You see a real rallying around of support and assistance at times like this."

Since 2002, 45 Canadian soldiers and a diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan, where Canada has more than 2,000 troops, with the majority in the southern province of Kandahar.

With files from the Canadian Press