Tragedy on the trail: The deadly cost of unregulated adventure tourism in Bangladesh’s hills

When Sheikh Zubairul Islam's dead body arrived in Alikadam, carried downstream by the Matamuhuri River, Shah Paran had just returned to the settlement after completing a perilous hiking trip. Zubayer had been part of Shah Paran's group but got lost midway, along with two others.

Shah Paran went to Bandarban in search of monsoon adventure — but returned with a nightmare.

His team originally consisted of 22 members. Nineteen returned alive, and Zubayer's body brought the total count to 20. Of the remaining two missing persons, the body of one girl, Smriti Akhter, was recovered the following day.

However, even after more than a week, there has been no trace of the tour host, Hasan.

Monsoon in Bandarban's hilly hiking trails means endless adventure — something hundreds of Bangladeshi hikers eagerly await each year. The waterfalls turn monstrous and magnificent; those that flow gently in most seasons become roaring beasts during the rains. Besides passionate hikers, this also draws casual tourists who may visit simply for a few stunning photographs.

For Facebook-based tour operators running hikes in the Bangladeshi hills, monsoon is peak business season. But every year, this season also brings death and tragedy, with hikers and even tour hosts slipping to their deaths on treacherous trails, drowning in waterfalls, or dying after falling into streams. Death follows tourists in Bandarban in many ways.

"They took 33 people with them but declared only 12 in our official register. That is why they went with only one guide. The guide went with another [Borsha], but where the casualties happened, there was no guide at all."

Mohammad Abdullah Al Momin, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Alikadam

This year, it still remains unclear exactly how three hikers from the same trip went missing and died. However, Shah Paran is certain about one thing — the negligence of the trip operator 'Tour Expert'.

Although Krishtang-RungRang is not an easy trail, this group of hikers was left entirely on their own for survival.

"We did not have any local guide except the very young and somewhat negligent host Hasan, who also went missing, leaving 19 of us completely clueless as to how we could find our way back home," Shah Paran told The Business Standard.

Tour Expert operator Borsha Islam was arrested on negligence charges, which led to the hikers' deaths. 

What went wrong?

On 9 June, the Tour Expert group arrived in Alikadam with around 45 hikers. The group admin, Borsha Islam, who came into the limelight after her husband, Ataher Ishraq Raf, died in the hills a few years ago, was accompanied by two other trip hosts, Hasan Chowdhury and Zakaria Gazi.

They split into three groups and headed to three different locations. Zakaria led a team of 12, Hasan had 22, and Borsha took 12 hikers.

However, they had only two local guides, although the law requires at least one local guide for every 10 hikers, meaning they needed a minimum of four.

"I was supposed to team up with Hasan for our return on 11 June. Both our teams had planned a three-day trip, while Borsha's team was on a five-day trek," Zakaria, one of the hosts, told The Business Standard. "But after waiting for hours, there was no sign of Hasan or his team."

What went terribly wrong was that Hasan's team — consisting of 22 hikers — had no local guide at all.

Shah Paran said they last saw Hasan and two others somewhere in the Shamuk Jharna area. It was raining heavily that day in the hills, and the usually gentle streams had turned deadly.

"Hasan and two others asked us to wait while they went near the stream. We waited a long time, but they never came back," Shah Paran said.

It is not clearly known why they went towards the stream, but fellow hikers suspect it might have been to check the water or take photos with Zubair's iPhone.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, they went to look for them, but found nothing. They were completely helpless in an unfamiliar area, with no guide whatsoever.

"We thought about returning to the village where we'd stayed the previous night, but hiking back meant climbing the slippery hills again — far too risky," Shah Paran said.

The team eventually survived after another group happened to pass by. However, they were forced to spend the night in the open, under heavy rain, facing significant risks.

Shah Paran found both Borsha and Hasan equally guilty for what happened to them.

"Borsha severely mismanaged the trip. She should have provided a guide for us. Hasan, on the other hand, neglected his responsibility. He was not even giving us proper instructions — either falling behind or getting too far ahead," he said.

Tourist deaths in Bandarban

Tourist deaths in the Bandarban hills are sadly not uncommon. In October 2018, a tourist slipped and fell to his death at Nafakhum waterfall. Three tourists died in a crash on 26 March 2022.

On 20 January 2024, two female tourists lost their lives and 11 others were injured in a road accident in Ruma; another injured tourist succumbed to her injuries on 31 January. A teenage girl also died on 4 March.

However, it was the death of Ataher Ishraq Rafi—Borsha's husband — that gravely shook the mountaineering community in 2023. He fell to his death in Saingpra while leading a large team of trekkers, with Borsha serving as co-organiser.

Surprisingly, tragedy struck Borsha's team again in the same or nearby area — this time, with an even higher number of casualties.

Negligence of rules and lack of awareness

The tragedy in Alikadam has divided hikers and tourism industry insiders in Bangladesh over what caused the disaster and why it befell the group of trekkers.

Hill tourism, in particular, remains a relatively new venture in Bangladesh, largely dominated by young and often inexperienced Facebook-based operators.

Everester Nishat Mazumder said that while the growth of hill-bound tourism is a welcome development in Bangladesh, there is negligence and a lack of awareness among many tour operators and hikers.

"Trips in the hills must be conducted following proper rules and precautions. Our hills are not made of strong rocks but of loose, dusty soil. The rocks are extremely slippery. Even in countries with strong, rocky hills like Nepal and India, trekking during the monsoon is risky," Nishat said.

"One of our girls recently went to the mountains in Nepal, and I was worried the entire time until she returned safely because it was the monsoon. You can never predict when misfortune might strike," added Nishat, who is also the co-founder of Obhijatri, an adventure sports organisation for youth.

"We should avoid these areas during the monsoon," she emphasised. "Each trekker must take personal responsibility. Even if someone offered me a free trip to Bandarban this season, I would not go," she added.

"It is also the responsibility of tour operators to engage skilled guides and provide basic training to the hikers they take with them, because most are inexperienced in the hills," Nishat stressed.

Mohammad Abdullah Al Momin, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Alikadam, said these were avoidable deaths caused by failure to follow rules.

"They took 33 people with them but declared only 12 in our official register. That is why they went with only one guide. The guide went with another [Borsha], but where the casualties happened, there was no guide at all," the UNO said.

"The rule is to submit a form and declaration stating the destination and the exact number of trekkers. It is mandatory to have one guide for every 10 hikers. We have now decided to strictly enforce these rules," he added.

Borsha Islam was arrested after Smrity Akter's father filed a case against her for negligence of duty, said Officer-in-Charge of Alikadam Police Station, Mirza Zahir Uddin. However, she was reportedly granted bail.

"This is the riskiest season; calm streams can suddenly turn deadly," Zahir Uddin warned.

Shah Paran is still reeling from the nightmare he endured.

"If they had taken a local guide, followed the rule of one guide per ten people, we would not have had to face this tragedy," he said.