In the Rub’ al Khali desert of Saudi Arabia, a 27-year old man from Telangana passed away from exhaustion and dehydration. Mohammad Shehzad Khan is a resident of Karimnagar. He was working at a Saudi Arabian telecom employee from last three years. In the dangerous Empty Quarter area of the desert, he found himself stranded. It is one of the world’s most dangerous places.  

Shehzad and the Sudanese with him lost their way when their GPS signal failed. Worse, Shehzad’s cell phone battery ran out, so the two were unable to call for assistance. In the sweltering heat of the desert, with no food or water, they were left behind when their car ran out of fuel. Despite their valiant efforts to survive in extremely high temperatures, the two ultimately perished from extreme fatigue and dehydration.  

After 4 days, it was discovered that Shehzad and his friend had died. We found the bodies in the sand dunes next to their car.

What makes Rub’ al Khali the world’s most dangerous desert? 

Situated on the Arabian Peninsula, the Rub’ al Khali, also referred to as the Empty Quarter as ‘Khali’ means empty, is one the world’s largest deserts. It is found in Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.  

Apart from a huge stretch of sand, the Rub’ al Khali is also rich in cultural and historical significance. 

The world’s largest sand desert spans 650,000 square km which makes it bigger than France. Sand dunes, which can grow to a height of 250 meters are the main features of the desert. The desert has a severe climate with daytime highs of up to 55 degrees Celsius.  

It never rains more than 1.2 inches in the Empty Quarter annually.   

Sabkhas, or salt flats, are another feature of the Empty Quarter. These are desert regions where seas have dried up and become landlocked, leaving behind salt deposits. Extremely dangerous for cars to navigate are the salt flats situated between the dunes.

Beneath its sands, Rub’ al Khali has enormous natural gas and oil reserves. Found in 1948 in the northeast region of the Sane Sea, . Al-Ghawar is home to billions and billions of barrels of oil. 

The Rub’ al Khali is now a well-liked tourist destination despite its hostile surroundings. A desert safari allows visitors to explore the desert’s natural beauty by navigating the sand dunes on camels and 4×4 vehicles.  

A camper can still enjoy one of the few places left in the world where they can sleep under the stars. As it is now difficult to see the stars clearly due to pollution.  

Sturdy sand dunes, intense heat, difficulty in navigating, lack of assistance, limited food and water supplies, and remoteness combine to make Rub al-Khali one of the world’s most dangerous locations. Although this is an era of technology but all it takes to die out in desert is one bad GPS signal