Family mourn victim of tsunami disaster

THE body of a Suffolk man has finally been cremated more than four months after he lost his life in the Asian tsunami disaster.

Dental records were needed to identify the body of Chris McGlynn, 25, from Sudbury, who died when a tidal wave caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake swept over large parts of Thailand.

Mr McGlynn is believed to have been travelling in Thailand when the disaster struck on Boxing Day.

His grieving family were finally allowed to cremate his body yesterday after it was flown back to this country earlier this month.

His friends and family yesterday paid their last respects at a cremation in Bury St Edmunds taken by Father Peter Rollings, who also took a requiem mass in February at Our Lady and St John's Church in Sudbury.

"I didn't know Chris myself as he had left the parish by the time I had arrived," Fr Peter said.

"But from what I have heard, he was a fine young man who had a deep impact on a lot of people in different areas.

"Yesterday's service was quiet brief after the requiem mass held in February when we didn't have the body.

"That service was a huge event, it was very intense and I had never seen the church so full. There were still quite a few friends who came yesterday to support the family."

Mr McGlynn's parents, Tom and Barbara, who live in Sudbury, officially reported their son missing on the International Red Cross website in the aftermath of the disaster which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

Mr McGlynn lived in Sudbury nearly all his life and went to the town's St Joseph's Primary School and later St Benedict's Upper in Bury St Edmunds. He was also a member of Sudbury Rowing Club.

His father used to be a paramedic and previously owned an antique shop in Long Melford.