Nine Bangladeshi Umrah pilgrims injured in Riyadh airport missile attack, one missing

At least 12 people were killed and 309 injured in a missile attack at an airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, with two Bangladeshis among the dead. A group of 45 teachers and students from a madrasa in Keraniganj, Dhaka, was waiting for boarding passes to travel to Makkah when the attack occurred, leaving nine members seriously injured and one missing.

The group, from Jamia Arabia Rabiul Uloom madrasa in Keraniganj, had travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah through Al Makka Travels. Some members had already reached Makkah, while the others were waiting at the airport in Riyadh to travel onward when the missile struck.

According to the group's travel organiser, nine members were seriously injured and taken to hospitals across Riyadh. One of the injured, identified as Maulana Saeed, had a leg severed in the attack. The whereabouts of Mufti Nasrullah Badrupuri, another member of the group, remained unknown.

In a statement early Sunday (October 11), the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) confirmed the attack, which took place on Saturday night. It reported that the dead included four Saudi nationals and citizens of Bangladesh, the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. Operations at King Khalid International Airport were suspended following the attack.

Al Makka Travels proprietor Mufti Khorshed said 44 of the 45 members of the group had been accounted for. Eight had reached Makkah, while the others were staying at different hotels, he said, adding that nine members were hospitalised with injuries.

“However, we have still not been able to locate Mufti Nasrullah Badrupuri, who was travelling with our group,” Khorshed said.

He said Maulana Saeed had lost a leg in the attack, while several others sustained injuries to their legs. Four or five of the eight members who reached Makkah had mild leg pain, and others had suffered injuries of varying severity. Those with serious conditions were receiving treatment at hospitals, he added.

Describing the moments before the attack, Khorshed said the group had a connecting flight from Riyadh to Jeddah scheduled to depart at 3:20am. Passengers were standing in queues to collect their boarding passes, with some having already received them while others were still waiting.

“The missile attack happened while we were in that situation,” he said.

Those who were closer to the impact site suffered the most serious injuries, Khorshed said, while some people farther away were also hurt. One member of the group was seriously injured and another remained missing, he added.

The remaining 35 members were in relatively good condition, although around 15 to 20 had sustained minor injuries to their hands, legs or heads, he said. All members of the group had come from the same madrasa.

Mufti Fazle bin Moktar, principal of the madrasa, told The Daily Campus that the group included 35 to 37 madrasa teachers, two or three elderly community members and four or five students.

“We are going through a disastrous situation. Everyone is worried. Some members of our group left Riyadh for Makkah last night and reached there. We are staying in Makkah because of the devastating attack in Riyadh,” he said.

He added that most of the group members were still in Riyadh and were doing well, although some had sustained minor injuries to their hands and legs. Nine had been seriously injured, with some suffering devastating injuries, including severed limbs, and were receiving treatment at different hospitals in the city.

The Saudi-led military coalition has announced plans to retaliate against the attack. Blaming Yemen's Houthi rebels, the coalition described the incident as a “war crime”.

Clashes between Saudi-backed government forces and Houthi rebels in Yemen have intensified recently. The Houthis control most of the country's territory.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry advised Saudi citizens travelling abroad to contact local embassies if their travel plans were disrupted by the incident.

Following news of the attack, reporters outside the White House asked US President Donald Trump whether the United States was considering joining Saudi Arabia in military action against the Houthis.

“We might get involved. We're looking at it. We just got the latest attack. So we'll make a decision. We act very quickly,” Trump said.