Death in the desert: GPS signal lost, Telangana man, colleague perish in Saudi's Rub' al Khali

The Rub’ al Khali desert is one of the harshest places on Earth.

A Telangana man and his Sudanese colleague, both Telecom professionals, lost their lives to severe dehydration and exhaustion while working in Saudi Arabia’s Rub’ al Khali desert.

The incident happened between August 19 and 21, when both, tasked with repairing a cellular tower in the 'Empty Quarter' desert, encountered a GPS signal failure.

Mohammad Shehzad Khan, 24, the Indian worker from Karimnagar, had been employed in Saudi Arabia for three years after securing a job through his uncle. Accompanied by his Sudanese colleague, Khan ventured into Rub' al Khali, a vast desert stretching over 650,000 square kilometers, notorious for its extreme heat, with temperatures soaring up to 55°C during the day.

Their plight began when their GPS malfunctioned, leaving them disoriented in the massive desert. To make matters worse, their phones soon ran out of battery, cutting off all communication. With no fuel left in their vehicle, the two men found themselves stranded without food or water, succumbing to the unforgiving desert conditions.

The Times of India cited Bheema Reddy, president of the Immigrants Welfare Forum: The bodies of Khan and his colleague were found lying on a prayer rug next to their vehicle four days later."

Khan’s brother-in-law Mohammed Basheeruddin Fazal, however, called the claims in online news reports fake. “All this information posted online is false and fake. No such information has been given to us by Saudi authorities. The reason for his death is unknown as of now,” Indian Express quoted him in its report.

The Rub’ al Khali desert, one of the harshest and most desolate places on Earth, spans across Saudi Arabia’s southern region and into neighboring countries. Known for its barren landscape and deadly conditions, it remains largely uninhabited and unexplored.