What hospital staff reported

The casualty picture from the Houthi attack on Riyadh airport rests largely on a source at a local hospital, who told Agence France-Presse that five people wounded at the airport were being treated in intensive care and that "dozens" more had been injured.

A relative of one of those hurt said the person had been struck in the shoulders and arms by shattered glass and was taken to hospital.

No confirmation from Riyadh

Saudi authorities did not confirm any new attack or evacuation, leaving the accounts from inside the terminal unverified by officials. Witnesses, however, described what they saw as the strike hit:

• •One witness reported hearing an explosion while waiting to board a flight, and another said they saw a strike that left people wounded.
• •Witnesses said people were being evacuated from the airport.

A witness who was at the domestic terminal described the scene to AFP: "I was on gate 403," he said, adding that he saw gate 401 hit and injured people in front of him, with everyone running.

A week of strikes

Saturday's incident came amid an escalation of missile strikes by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on the kingdom. The airport had already been attacked twice that week, leaving four people dead and others wounded, and badly damaging an aircraft.

The Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers since a truce in their long-running war with Yemen's Riyadh-backed government unravelled in July.

Saudi authorities had not confirmed the attack or the evacuations witnesses described at the terminal.