The daredevil who touched dream before death

Mohammad Khaled Hossain Sajal etched his name in history as the fifth Bangladeshi to scale the tallest peak in the world. But he did not live to tell the story as he died on the descents.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ External Publicity Division Director General M Shameem Ahsan said Sajal died while he was coming down from the Mount Everest on Monday.

His family said the Bangladesh mission in Nepal confirmed the news of Sajal’s death to his wife Tahmina Khan Shaily on the phone.

Before heading off to Nepal, the 35-year old adventurer had told bdnews24.com it was his second attempt to conquer the Mount Everest and the 15th expedition of his career.

Quoting Nepal tourism ministry official Thil Lal Gautam, Kantipur Online newspaper said Sajal died at his own tent, 8,600 metres off the ground, hours after conquering Mount Everest.

But the newspaper could not confirm how he died.

One other mountaineer, Sung Ho-Sieu of South Korea, also died in what the local media said an attempt to climb down without oxygen.

Sajal had failed to scale the Everest on one previous occasion due to adverse weather. Not ready to concede, he left for Nepal on Apr 11 for what would be a successful try.

Sajal had been popular with the public after directing a children’s movie ‘Kajoler Dinratri’.

An engineer by training, he left behind a two-and-a-half-year-old son, Susmith, in a family of three in Khilgaon. He hailed from Munshiganj’s Srinagar and was the youngest of six siblings.

His mountaineering career includes beating Mera Peak and Chulu West. He had translated a book on mountaineering by Edmund Viesturs in Bangla.

Sajal, a member of Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club, had private television ‘Desh Tv’ as media partner and sponsor of his last trip.

A member of the club, Riaz Ahmed, said they were trying to get in touch with Khaled’s Sherpa. “But we cannot reach him.”

‘Desh Tv’ marketing chief Sadequr Rahman Chowdhury Parag said they could not contact Khaled either but they received news of his death through a ‘local (Nepal) source’.

Two others of Bangla Mountaineering Club, MA Muhith and Nishat Majumder, had earlier conquered the Everest. Nishat was the first Bangladeshi woman to scale the mountain with Muhith, who achieved the feat twice.

Musa Ibrahim was the first Bangladeshi to scale the tallest peak.

Wasfia Nazrin was the second woman and fourth Bangladeshi to accomplish the feat.

Generally, the month of May is considered ideal for climbing Everest. This year saw almost 300 mountaineers touching the peak at the 60th anniversary since Tenjing Norgay and Edmund Hillary first made history.

Both Sajal and Sieu died in the area marked as ‘death zone’ at 8,000 metres off the ground. Five others have also died near the zone in the current season.

In the last six decades, almost 300 people died while trying to conquer the Everest. Their bodies remain buried there.