Riyadh airport hit again – death toll from Saturday's strike rises to 13
A day after the deadliest attack on a Gulf state since the Iran war began, another projectile struck Riyadh airport. The Houthis warn against using Saudi airports.
Archive image · Photo: Kharbaan Ghaltaan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport was hit again on Sunday. According to Saudi authorities, a projectile struck terminals 3 and 4, which handle domestic flights, injuring people. Al Jazeera reported on Monday that one person was killed and eleven wounded in the second attack. The airport remained closed. King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, in the east of the country, was also attacked, according to Saudi officials. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis claimed the Dammam attack and at least four operations against Riyadh airport since Saturday.
Saturday's missile strike killed twelve people and injured 309, according to the civil aviation authority. On Sunday an Indian citizen died of his injuries, the Indian embassy said, raising the death toll from that attack to 13. The victims include Saudis as well as people from Bangladesh, the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Sudan and the Palestinian territories. The Houthis warned "all airlines" and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace. Several international airlines have suspended flights.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Saturday's strike, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called it "heinous". US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed an American was among the dead. US President Donald Trump has said he is considering joining Saudi Arabia's fight against the Houthis. The Houthi-run health ministry in Sanaa said a child was killed in a suspected Saudi airstrike. Ahmed Nagi of the International Crisis Group said attacks on critical Saudi infrastructure "could make the Saudis more determined to continue the campaign".