24 Bangladeshis injured in Riyadh airport attack

Two Bangladeshis were killed and 24 others injured in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia said on Sunday.

Of the injured, 11 are workers and 13 are Umrah pilgrims. They are receiving treatment at different hospitals across Riyadh, with three in intensive care at King Abdullah Hospital. Their condition is stable, according to the embassy.

The embassy said a missile struck Terminal 3 of the airport at around 3:15am on Saturday. Preliminary information indicated that 12 people were killed and 309 injured in the attack, including two Bangladeshis killed and 24 injured.

An embassy delegation visited three Bangladeshis receiving treatment in the ICU of King Abdullah Hospital. They are Hafiz Hasan from Dhaka, Kazi Nurullah from Brahmanbaria and Md Omar Faruk, a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia.

Two other Bangladeshis, Safqat Rahman from Naogaon and Md Daudul Islam from Cumilla, are being treated at the National Guard Hospital. Safqat Rahman remains unconscious.

Md Saimul Islam Sourav and Abul Mansur Md Riaz Uddin, both from Dhaka, are receiving treatment at Riyadh Medical Hospital, while Md Abdullah from Dhaka is being treated at Prince Sultan Military Hospital.

Three Bangladeshi workers, including Arman Hossain from Dhaka, are receiving treatment at the Takhassusi branch of Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital.

Md Rafik Mia is being treated at Kingdom Hospital, while Ismail Hossain, Md Misbah Uddin Hirak and Md Raihanul Islam are at King Khalid Medical City.

Five Bangladeshi workers — Salma Akter, Md Shahadat Hossain, Moshahid Ahmed Saikat, Zahid Ahmed and Sohbe Sadek Md Shahjahan Sarkar — are receiving treatment at Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital.

Md Asadul Islam and Md Jamal are being treated at Ijtah Sanad Hospital, Nazma Akter at Sulaiman Fakeeh Hospital, and Umair and Abdullah Kamil at the Al Sahafa branch of Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital.

According to the embassy, all the injured Bangladeshis were waiting in transit at the airport to travel from Riyadh to Jeddah.

Around 500 passengers travelling through Riyadh were stranded following the attack, including passengers arriving from Bangladesh and those waiting to fly to domestic and international destinations.

The embassy arranged accommodation and meals for 100 passengers at Marriott and Radisson hotels and the dormitories of Princess Nourah University.

Special buses were arranged to transport 67 Umrah pilgrims who had arrived from Bangladesh wearing ihram garments from Riyadh to Jeddah.

The embassy also arranged for around 400 Bangladeshi passengers on the cancelled Saudia Airlines flight SV804 from Riyadh to Dhaka to travel to Bangladesh from King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.

Two Bangladeshi workers travelling from Riyadh to Bahrain were also assisted in crossing the border through Al Khobar.

sks