'Like my big brother': Survivor of Banff rockfall says friend who died saved him

A survivor of a rockfall last week in Banff National Park is remembering his 33-year-old roommate, who didn't make it out alive from under the rubble, as a kind and generous friend.

Khaled Elgamal says Hamza Benhilal of Surrey, B.C., was one of two people who died after a slab of mountain gave way Thursday, raining rock down on hikers at Bow Glacier Falls, about 200 kilometres northwest of Calgary.

"He was my friend but also like my big brother," Elgamal, 28, said in an interview Monday from a hospital bed in Calgary. He is recovering from a fractured pelvis and shoulder, cuts and scrapes.

"I'm still shocked," said Elgamal. "I'm still getting flashbacks of the scene."

He said he met Benhilal in 2022 when they were enrolled in the same online master of business administration program at University Canada West.

Elgamal was living in Egypt and Benhilal was in Morocco. They both moved to B.C. in 2022 and became housemates.

Elgamal, now a financial adviser, and Benhilal, an engineer, had just arrived in Banff for a vacation and a hotel worker recommended they visit Bow Glacier Falls, as the site's parking lot is usually less crowded.

"We didn't even have it on our bucket list for that day. We were planning to go to Lake Louise," Elgamal said.

He said a third friend on the trip decided to stay behind at the hotel, and he and Benhilal drove to the falls.

"We took a bunch of pictures at the lake first and then started the hike to the waterfall."

Shortly afterward, while still on the mountain, Elgamal said they heard a loud sound.

"It sounded like a thunderstorm."

When he turned around, Elgamal said he saw a large boulder fall from the mountain and shatter into pieces when it hit the ground.

Benhilal was in front of him and screamed at Elgamal to run.

"He saved me by screaming," Elgamal said. "I froze like a deer in headlights."

Elgamal said he turned and ran a few steps, and a rock hit his feet and he fell to the ground. He looked up and saw his friend for the last time running and eventually disappearing in the dust.

Elgamal said he was in and out of consciousness on the ground as stones hit his head and body. "Every time a rock was hitting me, I was blacking out."

The slide eventually stopped and Elgamal stayed on the ground, breathing heavily.

"I was bleeding and looking around," he said. He then forced himself to get up.

With a bleeding head, wobbly legs and in severe pain, Elgamal said he made his way through the dust and down the mountain. He slipped on some wet stones on his way down but continued following the sound of others screaming at the base.

Other hikers came running to him and told him to lie down and breathe, and they put their jackets on him.

"I was soaked in blood and barely managing myself," he said, adding he vomited a few times.

"It was the most painful experience I've had."

Elgamal told the others that he couldn't find his friend.

He learned on Saturday that Benhilal was killed. Parks Canada said the body was recovered from the rubble on Friday.

Another hiker, Jutta Hinrichs, a 70-year-old retired university professor from Calgary, was found dead at the site the day of the rockfall.

Officials with Parks Canada have said there was nothing that could have prevented or predicted the slide and that it was the result of geological forces common in mountain areas.

The area around the falls remained closed Monday.

The Bow Glacier Falls hiking trail is a nine-kilometre route that runs along the edges of Bow Lake and is used by tourists and day-trippers.

Elgamal said hospital workers have told him he will likely be discharged in the coming days. He said Benhilal's mother and one of his five brothers are set to arrive in Alberta this week to arrange his funeral.

Elgamal said he can't believe his friend is gone, and he has been having nightmares about the rockfall every night since it happened.

Support and visits from other hikers who helped him at the site of the slide have helped, he said.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Khaled Elgamal (Mandatory Credit)