A survivor of a rock fall last week at the Banff National Park is remembering his roommate and 33 -year -old friend who did not come out alive under the rubble.
Khaled Elgamal, 28, from Surrey, BC, says that Hamza Benhilal was one of the two people who died after a mountain slab gave up last Thursday, raining rocks on Bow Glacier Falls hikers, about 200 kilometers northwest of Calgary.
In an interview with the Canadian press, Elgamal said he was visiting Banff with Benhilal, an engineer, when they heard the strong sound of the rocks that were dislodged. They started running to a safe place but did not get out of the way on time.
He said he was crushed by rock pieces and is recovering in a fractured pelvis and shoulder hospital. Benhilal did not survive.
“He was very friendly, generous and very supportive,” Elgamal said in an interview on Monday.
“It was like my older brother. He always had a smile on his face. He was very open to the world because he had traveled a lot.”
Benhilal is one of the two hikers who died in rock fall. The other person was identified last week as Jutta Hinrichs, 70, a university professor withdrawal from Calgary.
Parks Canada has closed the area around the cataracts and has said that nothing could have avoided or predicted the fall of rocks.
Bow Glacier Falls hiking route is a nine -kilometer route that runs along Bow Lake edges. It is considered a moderate challenge for hikers and is used by tourists and buyers of one day, including families.
