A NORTH-East family has described its devastation at the loss of a father and husband in the Bahrain boat tragedy.

Father-of-two Christopher Langan, 52, died in the disaster.

He had lived in the Middle East for ten years, where he worked as an industrial surveyor for Bureau Veritas.

He was on board the ship enjoying celebrations to mark the end of a building project.

His 23-year-old son, Christopher McKenzie, flew out to Bahrain yesterday morning to identify his father's body, and to try to find answers as to why the tragedy happened.

Mr McKenzie said: "The identification things, the traumatic aspects have all been done now. My father's personal effects need to be put in order.

"Obviously, I need to have personal time for myself, my friends and his colleagues to grieve because a great man has been lost."

Mr Langan's estranged wife, Glynis, and their daughter, Emma, 14, were last night grieving in private at their Darlington home.

Devastated Mrs Langan, 43, said her husband - known as Kit - was a "very special person".

"We heard on Friday morning. I saw on the news and I said to Chris 'Text your father to make sure he's OK.' I never thought for a minute that he would be involved," she said.

"But then we heard he was supposed to be going on the ship as part of the celebrations.

"Christopher phoned his father's mobile in Bahrain and a friend answered. He was told he was in hospital and critical, but later we heard he had died.

"He was my knight in shining armour. He would always make any problem I had go away. It's been horrendous for me and the children."

Earlier, the family had released a statement in which they described Mr Langan as "a hard-working, down-to-earth and funny man who we will all miss".

The statement added: "We would like to thank all those who have sent kind messages of support."

The news comes as a second man from the region is said to be recovering from the ordeal.

David Roote, from Darlington, was celebrating the completion of a huge construction project when the pleasure boat capsized.

His family said he was lucky to be alive following the ordeal.

His son, Jon, has flown out to Bahrain to be with him.

Speaking from Bahrain yesterday, he said: "I'm sure you'll appreciate it's a very delicate time.

"He's doing as well as can be expected."

His other son, Andrew, who works for Darlington Borough Council, said: "He's okay. I've only spoken to him on the phone and so it's hard to tell over the phone, but my brother's out there with him.

"He's quite a private person and I hope people can respect that.

"We're not sure what his plans are about coming back to England.

"That's something that will be decided over the next few weeks, but he's out there for the time being."

The disaster on Thursday killed 58 people, 15 of them British or holding dual nationality.

Among those killed were five members of the same rugby side.

The men were all members of The Reds, a touch rugby team which played at the Bahrain Rugby Club.

More than 200 British ex-patriots packed into the club's bar last night for an emotional memorial service.