Riyadh airport on alert after blast heard, travellers evacuated, flights diverted

A loud blast at Riyadh's international airport on Saturday prompted evacuations and sent more than a dozen ambulances rushing to the scene. Flights were diverted or cancelled as Saudi Arabia faced escalating Houthi attacks, days before the capital is due to host major energy and investment conferences.A loud blast was heard at Riyadh's international airport on Saturday. (File image)A loud blast was heard at Riyadh's international airport on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of travellers from parts of the facility, while more than a dozen ambulances rushed to the scene, according to an eyewitness and people briefed on the matter.The incident comes amid an escalation in missile attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group on Saudi Arabia. The airport had already come under attack twice this week, leaving four people dead, several others wounded and an aircraft badly damaged.The Saudi government's media office and the country's civil aviation authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday's blast.Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed that all flights bound for Riyadh had either been diverted or cancelled. At one point, only a helicopter was seen hovering over the airport. The airport urged passengers to contact their airlines directly and check their flight status before setting out for the facility.Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways cancelled multiple flights connecting their respective hubs with Riyadh, with some cancellations extending into Monday. The latest incident follows Houthi attacks on Thursday and earlier in the week, which had already prompted several airlines to suspend or cancel services to the Saudi capital.The disruptions come shortly before Riyadh is scheduled to host major energy and investment conferences. Organisers said on Saturday that the events would proceed as planned and sought to reassure attendees about security arrangements.The Houthis have warned airliners against using Saudi airspace, declaring it a zone of military operations. The warning came after the Saudi-backed Yemeni government launched an offensive against the group earlier this month.- EndsWith Reuters inputs