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A Co Down soldier died after his armoured vehicle hit a bomb in Afghanistan, an inquest has been told.
Lance Corporal Stephen McKee, 27, from Banbridge, was driving a Jackal across a dried up river bed when the device went off.
The soldier, of the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, was blown 15 feet from the vehicle during the blast.
The inquest in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, heard he died almost instantly from injuries suffered by the 50kg device.
Three other soldiers inside the Jackal suffered minor injuries.
L/Cpl McKee was on an operation to disrupt insurgents in the Dashte area of the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand Province on March 9 this year when he was killed.
His younger brother Michael, who serves in the same regiment, was one of the first on the scene after the explosion, but this was not touched upon in Friday's proceedings.
L/Cpl McKee had strong family connections with the regiment. As well as his brother, his cousin and father-in-law also serve in the 1st Battalion, with another brother serving in the 2nd Battalion.
He leaves behind his wife Carley, his parents Heather and Bobby, his brothers Michael, Gareth and Robert, and his sisters Kelly and Rebecca. L/Cpl McKee and his wife tragically lost their two-year-old daughter a year before his death.
His widow Carley said he would always be her hero and described him as "the best husband, father, son and brother anyone could ask for".
