Many feared wounded in Saudi airport blast, travellers evacuated

Several individuals were injured in a blast at Riyadh's international airport in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, according to eyewitnesses and sources familiar with the incident, reported Reuters. Passengers were evacuated from parts of the facility following the explosion, which left multiple people injured, per two eyewitnesses and two other sources briefed on the matter.

One eyewitness recounted seeing an explosion and later finding several individuals lying injured on the ground within the airport. Reuters noted that over a dozen ambulances were seen rushing to the airport following the incident. The Saudi government's media office and the country's civil aviation authority did not immediately provide comment on the event.

The blast occurred amid a surge in missile strikes by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia. Riyadh airport had already faced two prior attacks earlier in the week, resulting in four deaths, injuries to others, and damage to an aircraft, as per Reuters. Flight-monitoring website Flightradar24 indicated that all flights to Riyadh either experienced diversions or cancellations, with only a helicopter observed hovering over the airport at one point.