KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A Radio-Canada reporter who survived a roadside bomb attack that killed two Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter said Thursday the horrific nature of the blast is hard to describe.

Patrice Roy, 44, told reporters at the Canadian base in Kandahar that he was writing his report inside the moving armoured vehicle just seconds before the explosion.

"It's a huge, huge blast. It's a scene that's difficult to imagine,'' said the Ottawa-based reporter, adding that a medic sitting next to him was one of the two soldiers who died.

"It's scene that it's difficult to imagine -- people were not panicking but it was so serious,'' he said.

"... We didn't know if other mines would be there and we had to walk (through suspect ground) to get the body'' he said.

The attack happened in the Zhari district about 50 kilometres west of Kandahar city on the first major combat operation for the Quebec-based Van Doos regiment in Afghanistan, codenamed Operation Eagle Eye.

Two Canadian soldiers were killed in the blast. Another Canadian soldier was wounded, along with Radio-Canada cameraman Charles Dubois, who had one of his legs amputated below the knee.

The dead soldiers were identified by the Defence Department as Master Cpl. Christian Duchesne of the 5th Field Ambulance unit, based in Valcartier, Que., and Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier of the Royal 22nd Regiment, also based in Valcartier.

Roy says the explosion happened shortly after a minesweeper had finished clearing a track on the road so the convoy of tanks and armoured vehicles could follow.

Roy himself was treated for shock and released. He said he will leave Afghanistan to accompany Dubois, 29, to a U.S. military hospital in Germany and will not return to the war-torn country.

"My mission was to come (to Afghanistan) with Charles and to leave with Charles,'' Roy said. "He needs care and I will leave with him. Beyond the journalistic mission, I have a moral commitment,'' he said of his decision to stay at his cameraman's side.

Roy says his family had questioned his decision to go to the war-torn country, where 69 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed since 2002.

"It's difficult because, for them, it was the part of my mission that they underlined before the departure -- `Why are you going there? It's too dangerous,''' Roy said.

Shortly after the explosion Roy tried to reach his wife in Canada to let her know he was OK.

Recalling his unkept promises to his family that he would be safe and that he would not go to the front lines, Roy said he "felt terribly bad.''

"I was worried for my children not to see the news this morning in Canada,'' he said.