Brother of Alberta rock slide victim speaks about family's grief

Global News

25-06-2025

He was the first one to wake up at 7 a.m. that fateful morning, saying, 'Let's get going, you don't want to be late.'
Twenty-eight-year-old Khaled Elgamal recounted the excitement of his friend, 33-year-old Hamza Benhilal, ahead of their planned hike into Bow Glacier Falls, in Banff National Park, about 40 km north of Lake Louise, last Thursday, June 19, 2025.
Fatefully, a third friend decided to stay behind and not go with the two men, who were visiting from Surrey, B.C.
'We started the hike — we took dozens of pictures,' said Elgamal.
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A photo of Hazma Benhilal (left) and Khaled Elgaml (right) at Bow Lake, the start of their hike into Bow Glacier Falls, on Thursday, June 19, 2025. Courtesy: Khaled Elgamal
'He (Benhilal) was very happy. We were talking to everybody passing by along the hike, saying hi, chatting about how was the waterfall, it was just a happy day for both of us,' added Elgamal.
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'We decided to climb up the mountain a little closer to the waterfall to take some photos from a better angle. We wanted to send them to our families back home. Then shortly after, we heard it very loud — it just looks like the mountain is falling apart. I saw a bunch of big rocks slamming the ground and rolling towards us,' said Elgamal.
A large part of the mountain at the base of the falls gave way, around 1:30 p.m.
Benhilal was killed by the falling rocks and Elgamal was forced to run for his life.
He suffered a a broken pelvis and broken shoulder and had to be medevaced to hospital in Calgary.
Elgamal credits his late friend for saving his life by yelling at him to run when the rocks began to slide.
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Benhilal, from Morocco and Elgamal, from Egypt, met while studying online during the pandemic and eventually both came to work in Canada, where they became good friends and roommates.
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'My friend was like my brother, we pretty much lived together, supported each other, we were like each other's family,' said Elgamal.
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'I was in shock hearing the news (of his death). I was trying to grasp any hope that he made it out.'
'I was very sad. I remember I was even crying while I was being transported,' added Elgamal.
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33-year-old Hazma Benhilal sits on the rocks in front of Bow Glacier Falls where a short time later a large part of the mountain gave way, taking his life. Courtesy: Khaled Elgamal
Two people were killed in the slide.
The body of 70-year-old Jutta Hinrichs, a retired university professor from Calgary, was recovered on Thursday.
But search and rescue workers were unable to recover Benhilal's body from underneath the rubble until Friday morning, because the area was deemed too unstable.
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A helicopter at the rock slide site near Bow Lake on Friday, June 20, 2025. Parks Canada
On Tuesday, Benhilal's older brother arrived in Calgary to take his brother's body back to Morocco.
Mohamed Benhilal said his brother, who moved to Surrey in 2022, loved Canada.
'He liked it so much,' said Benhilal, who added that his brother tried hard to convince other family members to come visit.
'He want the family to come here to see how beautiful Canada is — people he's saying are friendly — you can see smiles in the faces of people all the time. He liked the place very much.'
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Hamza Benhilal, seen here at the start of his hike into Bow Glacier Falls, 'liked Canada so much' said his older brother. Benhilal was originally from Morocco but moved to Canada in 2022. Courtesy: Khaled Elgamal
Mohamed Benhilal managed to secure a visa to visit his brother in Canada a year ago, but hadn't used it — until he got news of his brother's death.
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'Friends called (but) I thought at first it was just spam or something. After I got the real (news) what happened, I had to say to myself that's the truth, this is the reality. I had to accept it, but his death is very shocking. For days we don't sleep or understand — all the memories of him come along.'
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On Tuesday, Mohamed Benhilal arrived in Calgary to take the body of his late brother back home to his family in Morocco. Global News
Benhilal said his brother 'liked to travel — to try new things.' He also 'left a great impression on people.'
'He was just perfect. I mean he is (always) helpful. You need help — I can do that — he lives for people,' added Benhilal.
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33-year-old Hamza Benhilal sits on rocks in front of the mountain at Bow Glacier Falls where, a short time later, a massive rock slide would take his life. Courtesy: Khaled Elgamal
It is a sentiment shared by Elgamal who described his late friend as 'a very kind and caring person.'
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'He was never self-centred or showed any ego or anything like that. He would always support people; (it would) bring him satisfaction, just putting a smile on people's face,' said Elgamal.
'I've seen it myself many times — even when we played tennis and sometimes he would be coaching some beginners, and he would tell them, 'You're doing a great job.' He's always telling them keep going, stuff like that.'
As the elder brother in the family, and the only one who already had a visa, Mohamed Benhilal was designated as the person to make the arrangements to return his brother's body to his family.
'I had to come here because my dad or mother or brothers, they can't — so I am the one who needs to do this job,' said Mohamed Benhilal.
' That's a small thing to do for my dead brother — the death of my brother. If they didn't find the body, that would be worse. Aat least they found the body; it will relieve (us) a little bit.'
But getting the body back to Morocco will be expensive. The cost is estimated at about $13,000, so family and friends have set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise the money.
'We're hopeful to catch some good hearts,' said Benhilal. 'Some good deeds from people who know the situation of this tragic death.'
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