Manxman who survived tsunami dies in crash

Adian DARBYSHIRE

A Popular Manxman who moved to Sri Lanka to begin a new life has been killed in a moped accident. Father-of-two Marcus Keggin, 37, survived the Boxing Day tsunami.

But in the early hours of Saturday, his heartbroken Sri Lankan wife Asha rang his family in Kirk Michael to tell them he had been killed in a road accident.

Marcus split his time between the Isle of Man, where he worked up to six months a year as a plasterer, and his home in Unawatuna which he shared with Asha and their son Mereno, seven, and daughter Alzena, who is just one.

On Monday, Marcus's mother Carol and sister Fiona made the journey from the Isle of Man to Colombo where they were met by officials from the British Embassy before driving to Unawatuna.

Speaking from the family's home in Main Road, Kirk Michael, his other sister Charlene, 29, said: 'Marcus loved Sri Lanka, he just wanted to be there all the time with his family.

'He always said that if anything did happen to him, he wanted it to happen to him out there. We were always worried about him on his moped as Unawatuna is very busy.

'He went out there on a holiday and fell in love with the place. He met Asha out there. Marcus would work over here for six months and spent the rest of the time in Sri Lanka.

'Asha rang at 1am on Saturday to tell us about the accident - she is in a really bad way. All we know is that he was on his moped when he had the accident. Marcus was a really nice lad, always joking, a family man.'

A spokesman for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: 'I can confirm a British national died in a road traffic accident in Sri Lanka. Consulate staff have been in contact with next of kin and are providing consular assistance.'

Isle of Man Today, UK