Strike on Riyadh airport leaves at least 12 dead & over 300 injured

A strike on an airport in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 10 has killed at least 12 and left over 300 people injured.

According to a report by BBC, the incident took place at King Khalid International Airport.

Those killed included 4 Saudis, 2 Bangladeshis, and 1 national each from the U.S., Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt.

A Saudi-led military coalition has blamed the Iran-backed Houthis for the attack, calling it a "war crime" and vowing to respond to it.

Footage from Terminal 3 at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh following an Ansar Allah missile strike.

It remains unclear whether the missile was ballistic or cruise, with conflicting reports on the type of weapon used. https://t.co/OaahGp6xfO

— OSINTWarfare (@OSINTWarfare) October 10, 2026

Eyewitnesses saw people lying injured on the ground

The Saudi civil aviation authority said in a statement on Saturday that some of the injured were "in critical condition", BBC reported.

It added that damage to the airport was being assessed.

All flights were diverted from Riyadh and operations at the airport were temporarily suspended, Reuters reported.

Speaking to Reuters, an eyewitness at the airport said they saw an explosion, followed by multiple people lying injured on the ground inside.

Several ambulances were also spotted rushing to the scene.

A traveller who was injured told the news agency they saw something fly across the sky outside the airport before part of the ceiling near a departure gate collapsed.

The strike came a day after authorities said three Saudis were killed in two Houthi attacks on the airport, reported BBC.

Another three people were killed in attacks on two Saudi airports on Oct. 6 and 7.

When asked if Washington planned to join Saudi strikes on the Houthis, U.S. President Donald Trump said they may.

"​We're going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we'll make a decision. We move very quickly," he was quoted as saying.

The attacks were also condemned by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

He described them as demonstrating "a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life", Reuters reported.

Background

The Iran-backed Houthis have justified the attacks by pointing to Saudi Arabia’s support for Yemen’s government in the civil war.

According to Reuters, a Saudi-led coalition was formed in 2015 after Arab countries joined forces to stop the Houthis from taking over Yemen.

A temporary ceasefire, which was brokered in 2022, began to unravel in July this year, after the Houthis seized strategically important stretches of the Red Sea coast.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government launched an offensive this week to retake the territory.

The Houthis have since declared Saudi airspace a zone of military operations and warned airliners to avoid it.