Internet funeral for New Zealand quake victim

DUBLIN, Ireland - The grieving New Zealand-based family of an Irish victim of the Christchurch earthquake was to watch his burial in his homeland through the Internet on Tuesday.

Owen McKenna, 40, a psychiatric nurse, was killed when his car was crushed by falling debris in the quake on February 22.

A funeral service has already been held in New Zealand, where he had lived for seven years, but his wife and two young children were unable to travel to Ireland for the burial.

So the service was to be streamed live through the Internet.

"Owen always expressed a wish to be buried at home," said Father Sean Nolan, parish priest in Carrickroe, County Monaghan.

"We are conscious of Owen's family and friends in New Zealand and in consultation with the family here we decided to link up with them live on the Internet. It will be a tremendous comfort to the family.

"Owen was a very outgoing person and had a huge capacity for friendship so there will be many people remembering him in New Zealand."

McKenna trained as a nurse in London before he worked in Saudi Arabia where he met his wife New Zealand-born Sarah.

In Ireland, Owen is survived by his widowed mother Theresa, four sisters and three brothers.

The official death toll from the Christchurch quake stands at 166, but police expect the figure to rise to more than 200. (report from Agence France-Presse)