Published : 10 Oct 2026, 10:17 PM
Updated : 10 Oct 2026, 10:17 PM
Multiple people were wounded in a blast at Riyadh's international airport on Saturday, according to eyewitnesses and people briefed on the incident, as travellers were evacuated from parts of the facility.
One eyewitness said they saw an explosion followed by several injured people lying on the ground inside the airport. More than a dozen ambulances were seen rushing to the scene.
Saudi Arabia's government media office and civil aviation authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The blast comes amid an escalation in missile strikes by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group. Riyadh airport has already been attacked twice this week, leaving four people dead, others wounded and an aircraft badly damaged.
Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed that all flights to Riyadh had either been diverted or cancelled, with only a helicopter seen hovering over the airport at one point.
The airport urged passengers to contact their airlines and check flight statuses before travelling there.
Kuwait Airways said it had cancelled flights to and from Riyadh because the airport was closed due to what it described as the "security situation".
Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways had earlier cancelled multiple flights between their respective hubs and Riyadh, with some cancellations extending into Monday.
Houthi attacks on Thursday and earlier this week had already prompted several airlines to suspend or cancel services to the Saudi capital, shortly before the city is due to host major energy and investment conferences.
Organisers said on Saturday that the events would proceed as planned and sought to reassure attendees about security arrangements.
The Houthis have urged airliners to avoid Saudi airspace, declaring it a zone of military operations after the Saudi-backed Yemeni government launched an offensive against the group earlier this month.
