Deadly Riyadh attack wounds 2 Pinoys — DMW
FLAMES on the runway Firefighters douse the burned wreckage of what appears to be a Saudia aircraft at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, amid reports of a Houthi missile attack on the Saudi capital. Hundreds were wounded and about a dozen were killed, authorities say.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THECREWLOUNGE/IG
The deadliest strike on Saudi soil in more than a decade killed 12 people at Riyadh’s international airport and wounded hundreds, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to vow on Sunday a decisive response against Yemen’s Houthis.
The coalition blamed the Iran-backed group for the strike on King Khalid International Airport, describing it as a “full-fledged war crime” that a diplomatic source attributed to a missile.
The attack came during an unprecedented wave of Houthi strikes on the kingdom since a truce in the group’s long-running war with Yemen’s Riyadh-backed government unraveled in July.
The spiraling violence has raised the possibility of a wider escalation, with US President Donald Trump signaling Washington could join military action against the fighters.
One passenger told AFP they witnessed a strike in the airport’s domestic terminal.
“I was on gate 403,” the witness said. “I saw 401 hit, I saw injured in front of my eyes. Everyone was running.”
Hundreds injured
Four Saudi citizens were among those killed in the attack, as well as two Bangladeshis, one US citizen, one Egyptian, one Jordanian, one Syrian, one Palestinian and one Sudanese, the kingdom’s civil aviation authority said in a statement.
It said some of the 309 wounded were in serious condition.
Operations at the airport were suspended following the attack and authorities said damage assessments were ongoing.
The attack prompted health officials to activate a rare mass call-up of doctors to deal with the “serious emergency situation,” a medical source said.
Two doctors told AFP that several pilgrims headed to Mecca were among the wounded.
Schools in Riyadh switched to remote learning for the second time in a month.
Parents in the capital received emails Sunday seen by AFP, citing an order from the education ministry, saying “all schools in Riyadh will switch to distance learning for the entire week.”
The Houthis claimed a series of attacks targeting the airport on Thursday that killed three people and damaged a plane, though they did not immediately take responsibility for any new strikes on Saturday.
‘Deadliest’
Saturday’s attack was the deadliest in the kingdom since May 2015, when a suicide bombing by the Islamic State jihadist group killed 21 worshippers in a Shia mosque in the eastern Qatif governorate.