At least 12 people have been killed and 309 others injured in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, according to the country’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) on Saturday.
In an official statement, the authority said those killed included four Saudi nationals, two Bangladeshis, and one national each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.
The incident followed reports of a powerful explosion at the airport, disrupting flight operations and triggering panic among passengers. More than 12 ambulances were reportedly dispatched to the scene, while some travellers were evacuated from the airport as a precaution.
The attack comes amid reports of increasingly frequent Houthi missile attacks targeting Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.
According to flight-tracking website FlightRadar24, almost all flights bound for Riyadh were either cancelled or diverted to other destinations. At one point following the incident, only a helicopter was seen circling the airport’s airspace.
Airport authorities urged passengers to contact their respective airlines and check flight statuses before travelling to the terminal.
The latest incident comes just days after the airport was reportedly attacked twice within a week, leaving four people dead and damaging an aircraft.
Amid the uncertain security situation, several international airlines, including Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, have cancelled some services to Riyadh, with some cancellations reportedly extending until Monday.
The continued attacks on the Saudi capital have also raised concerns ahead of a major energy and investment conference scheduled to take place in the coming days. Organisers, however, have said the event will proceed as planned, adding that additional security measures have been implemented to protect participants.
Previously, Yemen’s Houthi group warned commercial airlines against using Saudi Arabian airspace, describing it as a military operational zone.
The warning followed attacks launched earlier this month by Yemen’s Saudi-backed government against the group, further escalating regional tensions and raising concerns about the impact on civilian aviation.
