Houthi Missile Attack on Riyadh Airport Kills at Least 12, Wounds 50; Airport Shut Down
King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh came under a Houthi missile attack on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 50, forcing an emergency evacuation and the closure of the airport. It was the third attack on the airport this week and the deadliest strike on a Gulf Arab state since the war in Iran began in February.
Three officials briefed on the strike told The New York Times that at least 12 people were killed and 50 injured. Saudi officials said the missiles scored direct hits on Terminals 3 and 4 — which handle domestic flights — and parts of the roof collapsed on people inside. Several of the wounded remain in critical condition; a source at King Fahad hospital said five people were in intensive care with "dozens" more wounded.
Witnesses reported at least two loud blasts, black smoke rising from the airport, and more than a dozen ambulances racing to the scene. "Everyone was running," a witness told Agence France-Presse as the airport was evacuated. Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority confirmed the attack caused "a number of injuries" and announced the temporary suspension of all flights while damage is assessed. Flight tracker Flightradar24 showed arrivals and departures canceled or delayed across the board Saturday afternoon, with at least 225 flights affected; one passenger said his flight to Riyadh was diverted to Dammam and he was taking a taxi back to the capital.
The medical system has gone into emergency mode. Health officials issued a rare mass call-up of doctors to deal with what a medical source called a "serious emergency," with the injured "being moved to hospitals across Riyadh." Ambulances and helicopters were dispatched to collect the wounded, and doctors were called in from other hospitals to handle the surge of patients.
It was the Houthis' third strike on the airport this week. Just two days earlier, on Thursday, an attack on the same airport killed three Saudi citizens — including a pilot for flag carrier Saudia — and destroyed a passenger jet. The drumbeat of attacks has put the kingdom on edge as it struggles to fend off a sharp escalation in Houthi cross-border strikes.
President Trump told reporters Saturday that the United States "may" join Saudi strikes on the Houthis. "We may," he said. "We just found out about the recent attack, so we'll make a decision. We move very quickly." The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia has told American citizens to avoid the airport area; Canada, Germany and Ireland also warned their citizens away from the Riyadh airport, with Canada citing military activity disrupting flights and Ireland's embassy calling it a serious incident.
The airport remains closed while damage assessment and investigations continue. (Compiled from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and AP reporting; rewritten by GSM)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：利雅得市中心天际线，王国中心与费萨尔塔（资料图）。摄影：B.alotaby，CC BY-SA 4.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
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