LAKE LOUISE — A survivor of a rockfall last week in Banff National Park is remembering 33-year-old friend Hamza Benhilal, who didn't make it out alive from under the rubble.
Khaled Elgamal, 28, of Surrey B.C., says his roommate and friend Benhilal was one of two people who died after a slab of mountain gave way last Thursday, raining rock down on hikers at Bow Glacier Falls.
The first person has been identified as 70-year-old Jutta Hinrichs, a retired university professor from Calgary.
Elgamal says he was visiting Banff with Benhilal, an engineer, when they heard the loud sound of rocks dislodging and started running.
Elgamal says he was crushed by the stones and is recovering in a Calgary hospital from a fractured pelvis and shoulder.
Parks Canada has closed the area around the falls, and says tests show the rock slide was the result of geological forces common in mountain areas.
More coming.
The Canadian Press
