Two men die in Saudi Arabian desert’s perilous Empty Quarter after losing GPS signal

Indian man and Sudanese colleague were left stranded in Rub’ al Khali after phone died and car ran out of fuel

File. Rub’ al Khali desert in Saudi Arabia (AFP via Getty)

An Indian man and his Sudanese colleague died from exhaustion and dehydration after getting lost in a Saudi Arabian desert.

Mohammad Shehzad Khan, 27, from the southern Indian state of Telangana and his colleague lost their way in the Rub’ al Khali desert after their GPS signal went off, NDTV reported.

They were reportedly stranded in the desolate and perilous Empty Quarter part of the desert, one of the most dangerous regions in the world.

After Shehzad’s phone battery died and their vehicle ran out of fuel, they were left stranded without food or water. And despite their efforts to survive in the harsh desert conditions, they succumbed to starvation and dehydration.

Their bodies were found on 22 August, four days after they were last heard from, buried under sand dunes beside their vehicle.

Khan and his Sudanese colleague, whose name was not known, had been working in Saudi Arabia for three years with a telecommunications company.

Rub’ al Khali, known as the world’s largest sand desert, stretches over 650km and is notorious for its extreme climate. Annual rainfall in the region is less than 50mm, making it one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.

The desert can be reached mainly by Saudi Arabia’s Highway 10, the world’s longest straight road with an estimated driving time of about two hours, which runs from Haradh to Al Batha near the UAE border. The modern highway, which cuts right through Rub’ al Khali, passes through a landscape that’s one of the planet’s most perilous.