An Egyptian woman was among 12 people killed in Saturday’s attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said on Sunday.
A medical source at a Riyadh hospital told AFP on Saturday that the Egyptian victim worked as a flight attendant for a Saudi airline. Neither Saudi nor Egyptian authorities have publicly named her.
In a follow-up statement dated 11 October, GACA said those killed were four Saudi citizens and eight residents: two from Bangladesh, and one each from Egypt, the United States, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. Another 309 people were injured, some of them critically, and are being treated at several hospitals.
The authority said the attack also caused property damage, which is still being assessed.
GACA did not say who carried out the attack, which hit the airport on Saturday afternoon. A diplomatic source told AFP that a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis struck the airport at around 3pm local time.
The Houthis had not claimed the strike by Saturday night, Reuters reported. After the attack, the group’s military spokesperson reposted an earlier message saying only pre-approved humanitarian flights could land at Riyadh airport, adding the words “a reminder.”
The Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities since Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi airstrikes, launched an offensive last weekend to retake territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Saturday’s strike was the third attack on King Khalid International Airport this week. On 6 and 7 October, attacks on Abha International Airport and the Riyadh airport killed three residents, a Moroccan woman and an Algerian woman in Abha and a Sudanese man in Riyadh, according to GACA. Eight people were injured in Riyadh, among them two Egyptian residents.
On Thursday, three Saudi citizens, including a Saudia pilot, were killed in attacks on the airport and a Saudia aircraft, GACA said. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the earlier attacks.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Saturday’s attack in a statement that evening, calling it a flagrant violation of international law and a disregard for “the safety of civilians of various nationalities.”
The ministry said Egypt stands with Saudi Arabia and supports the steps it takes to protect its security and sovereignty. The statement was issued before GACA announced the death toll.
Earlier on Saturday, the ministry had condemned Thursday’s attacks and offered its condolences to the Saudi government and people.
After the earlier attack in which two Egyptians were injured, Egypt’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Hatem Abdel Kader, and the consul general in Riyadh, Yasser Hashem, visited one of them in hospital. The second has since left hospital, Al-Qahera News reported.
Operations at the airport were suspended after the attack, and flight-tracking data showed all flights to Riyadh diverted or cancelled. Qatar Airways, Etihad and Kuwait Airways cancelled flights to the Saudi capital, while the US and Canadian embassies told their citizens to avoid the airport.
Egypt Air suspends services to Riyadh
EgyptAir suspended its flights from Cairo and Alexandria to Riyadh until operations at King Khalid airport resume, in coordination with Saudi civil aviation authorities. Passengers holding confirmed tickets on the cancelled flights can change their route to any other Saudi city EgyptAir flies to directly, with no change fees or fare differences, the airline said. Those who prefer to cancel can get a refund without cancellation fees.
EgyptAir said its operations centre is monitoring the situation around the clock, and asked passengers to check their bookings through its call centre.
Air Cairo also suspended its flights between Riyadh and both Cairo and Sohag on 11 and 12 October, and asked passengers to contact the airline or their travel agent.
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