Military pallbearers carry the casket of Cpl. Nick Bulger to an awaiting transport plane at Kandahar Airfield on Saturday. (Colin Perkel/Canadian Press)About 2,000 soldiers turned out at Kandahar Airfield on Saturday to pay their respects as the casket of Cpl. Nick Bulger was loaded onto a transport plane for the journey home to Canada.

Bulger, 30, of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, was killed Friday when the convoy he was in struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan's Zhari district.

The explosion hurt five others and narrowly missed a vehicle carrying Canadian Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, commander of coalition forces in Kandahar province.

Cpl. Nick Bulger, 30, was killed when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Kandahar on Friday. (DND)

Bulger's armoured vehicle, travelling just 15 metres behind, triggered the blast, officials said.

The ramp ceremony, held in the sweltering afternoon heat, was delayed for a few minutes when a Predator, one of the unmanned drones that circle the base and do reconnaissance, crash-landed on the runway.

The ceremony was held off as weapons aboard the drone were disabled, said the CBC's James Murray, who had interviewed Bulger on Canada Day.

Murray said Bulger's comrades attending the ceremony said he made a connection with them and inspired others to do their best.

"Today his fellow soldiers described him as an exemplary soldier, and even though this was his first tour of duty here in Afghanistan, many were saying he behaved like a seasoned veteran … that he raised the level of everyone else around him," he said.

"His performance for a soldier on his first tour was excellent," said Sgt. Matthew Parsons, the crew commander of Vance's security detail and a friend of Bulger's for nearly 10 years.

On Friday, Vance praised Bulger as a "passionate" soldier and a family man "with a big heart." Bulger is survived by his wife, Rebeka, and their two daughters, ages four and two, who live in Edmonton.

"Despite his tough exterior, Nick had a big heart, which he lent to everyone in his life and which I had the honour to experience," Vance said. "Although this was his first overseas deployment, he always handled himself as a seasoned infantry soldier."

Bulger was born in Toronto but spent most of his life in Buckhorn, near Peterborough, Ont.

His death brings to 121 the number of Canadian soldiers who have died on the Afghan mission since 2002.

One of the soldiers injured in the roadside blast was treated and returned to duty Saturday, while three others who suffered serious injuries were being flown to Germany for further treatment.

The fifth, whose name was not released, was on hand for Saturday's proceedings, which he watched from a wheelchair.

With files from The Canadian Press