One person was killed and 11 others were injured in a fresh attack at Riyadh's international airport, Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement claimed responsibility yesterday for Saturday's airport attack, which left 13 people dead and over 300 injured, according to RTE.
Among those caught in the blast was an Irish national, who described himself as "lucky to be alive."
Saudi-led coalition forces reported that an unidentified projectile hit Terminal 4 at Riyadh's international airport, triggering a fire, while the Saudi civil aviation authority continues to assess the scale of the damage, the news outlet has reported.
Reports have confirmed that Saudi air defences had intercepted a cruise missile in the vicinity of King Khalid International Airport. The coalition forces later added that a drone had been intercepted and destroyed in the country's Eastern Province.
The attacks have laid bare critical gaps in Saudi Arabia's defense network as the kingdom maintains an air campaign against Houthi forces, who continue to wage a ground war against Yemen's Saudi-backed government.
Footage aired by Saudi state television captured the moment of Saturday's attack on Riyadh airport, showing dozens of travelers queued at a gate on their way to Islam's two holiest sites.
A sudden orange fireball triggered immediate panic as people fled, with sections of the terminal ceiling collapsing from the force of the blast.
The airport was subsequently shut down.
A Houthi military spokesperson claimed responsibility for Saturday's strikes, stating the group targeted Dammam’s airport in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province alongside two facilities belonging to state oil giant Saudi Aramco, according to RTÉ.
According to the Saudi energy ministry, a five-day summit hosted by the international organization WPC Energy opened as scheduled yesterday at a convention center roughly 10 kilometers from Riyadh’s airport.
A ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum also proceeded as planned, according to a media advisory from the energy ministry, though it remains unclear which ministers were in attendance.
Saturday's strike marked the third attack on Riyadh's airport in a single week. Saudi authorities confirmed that four of the victims were Saudi citizens, with the remaining fatalities being foreign nationals.
The initial death toll of 12 rose after the Indian Embassy in Riyadh announced yesterday that an injured Indian citizen had succumbed to their wounds.
The two earlier strikes on the airport this week claimed four lives and caused severe damage to a commercial airliner parked on the tarmac.
