Two Bangladeshis have been killed and 24 others injured in a missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh said on Sunday.
The injured include 11 migrant workers and 13 Umrah pilgrims. They are receiving treatment at hospitals across Riyadh, with three in intensive care at King Abdullah Hospital. Their conditions are stable, according to the embassy.
In a statement issued on Sunday night, the embassy said a missile struck Terminal 3 of the airport at around 3:15am on October 10, leaving 12 people dead and 309 injured, according to preliminary information. The casualties included two Bangladeshis killed and 24 injured.
The embassy said it was maintaining contact with hospital authorities to monitor the condition of the injured Bangladeshis. A delegation from the mission visited the three Bangladeshis receiving intensive care at King Abdullah Hospital. They are Hafez Hasan of Dhaka, Kazi Nurullah of Brahmanbaria and Md Omar Faruk, a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia. Their conditions are stable.
Two other Bangladeshis, Safqat Rahman of Naogaon and Md Daudul Islam of Comilla, are receiving treatment at National Guard Hospital. Safqat remains unconscious.
Md Saimul Islam Sourav and Abul Mansur Md Riaz Uddin, both from Dhaka, are being treated at Riyadh Medical Hospital, while Md Abdullah of Dhaka is receiving treatment at Prince Sultan Military Hospital.
Three Bangladeshi workers, including Arman Hossain of Dhaka, are being treated at the Takhassusi branch of Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital.
Md Rafik Mia is receiving treatment 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 Sarker, are receiving treatment at Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital.
Md Asadul Islam and Md Jamal are being treated at Ejtiah Sanad Hospital, Nazma Akter at Sulaiman Fakeeh Hospital, 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 Riyadh airport to travel to Jeddah.
Embassy arranges accommodation for stranded passengers
The attack stranded around 500 passengers who had arrived from Bangladesh or were waiting to travel to domestic and international destinations via Riyadh. Passengers scheduled to fly from Riyadh to Bangladesh were also affected.
The embassy arranged accommodation and meals for 100 passengers who had arrived from Bangladesh on Saudia Airlines flight SV804, Riyadh Air flight RX17 and US-Bangla Airlines flight US281, as well as those waiting to travel to other Saudi destinations on flynas, flyadeal and flyriyadh.
The passengers have been accommodated at Marriott and Radisson hotels and in dormitories at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University.
The embassy also arranged special buses to transport 67 Umrah pilgrims who had arrived from Bangladesh wearing ihram garments from Riyadh to Jeddah.
Necessary arrangements have been made to send around 400 Bangladeshi passengers stranded by the cancellation of Saudia Airlines flight SV804 from Riyadh to Dhaka back to Bangladesh via King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.
The mission also assisted two Bangladeshi workers travelling from Riyadh to Bahrain in crossing the land border at Al Khobar.
Government working to repatriate bodies
Earlier on Sunday afternoon, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that two Bangladeshis had been killed in the attack. She initially said four injured Bangladeshis were receiving intensive care at King Khalid Hospital.
“Two Bangladeshi citizens have been killed in the attack on the Saudi airport. Four Bangladeshis have been injured and are in the ICU at King Khalid Hospital in Saudi Arabia. We are trying to confirm everyone's identity,” she said.
The state minister said the Bangladesh mission was contacting other Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia to obtain updates on the victims' conditions. It had also issued guidance to help Bangladeshis remain safe.
Responding to a question, she said the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would jointly provide assistance.
“The incident has just occurred. We will certainly work with the Saudi government. In many cases, we need to speak with the owners of the companies where Bangladeshi workers are employed. We will complete all the formalities and try to bring their bodies home as soon as possible. We usually bear the cost of bringing them back to Bangladesh,” she said.
