A blast struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, injuring several people and forcing authorities to suspend operations, Saudi Civil Aviation Authority said.
More than a dozen ambulances rushed to the facility following the attack, according to Reuters citing an eyewitness. A hospital source told AFP that dozens of people had been wounded. One eyewitness at gate 401 in the domestic terminal told the agency: "I saw 401 hit, I saw injured in front of my eyes. Everyone was running."
A medical source told AFP that doctors had been called to report to hospitals to address a "serious emergency situation."
The US embassy said it was "aware of attacks on King Khalid International Airport" and urged American citizens to avoid the airport and surrounding areas. Western embassies in Saudi Arabia issued similar warnings to their citizens.
Several Gulf airlines cancelled flights to and from Riyadh, with Kuwait Airways citing the "security situation." Aviation tracker Flightradar showed all flights to Riyadh had been diverted or cancelled.
The attack came days after Yemen's Houthi movement claimed responsibility for strikes on the same airport. On Friday, authorities said three Saudis, including a pilot, were killed in two Houthi attacks. The Houthis also claimed responsibility for attacks on two other Saudi airports on 6 and 7 October that killed three people.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed group that controls most of Yemen's north-west, have escalated strikes on Saudi Arabia amid renewed fighting in Yemen's civil war. The group says it is retaliating against Saudi support for Yemen's internationally recognised government and against what it calls a years-long Saudi blockade.
The temporary ceasefire brokered in 2022 began to unravel in July when the Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea. The group recently seized strategically important Red Sea coast territory, including the port of Mokha on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key chokepoint for global shipping.