Saudi authorities say 2 killed by falling debris at oil facility following drone attack in kingdom

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said Wednesday that debris from an intercepted drone killed two people and injured two others at an Aramco-operated oil field in the country’s southeast.

The ministry said the two people killed were Nepali and Filipino nationals, while the injured were Pakistani and Indian nationals.

The falling debris also sparked a fire in a contractor’s vehicle at the Shaybah oil field, the ministry said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia has been seeing multiple attacks on its airports and oil facilities launched by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Last month, debris from an intercepted Houthi drone killed a Yemeni resident of Saudi Arabia. It is the first civilian casualty since the Houthis have increased their attacks against the kingdom, targeting Saudi shipping and oil facilities.

Earlier this month, a limited fire broke out in an administrative building at Aramco, one of the world’s largest oil facilities, that was targeted in an attack in the country’s Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said at the time.

The attacks come as the Houthis and the Saudi coalition continue to fight in Yemen, breaking a four-year truce. The fighting in Yemen marked a fresh escalation in the widening Middle East crisis.

On Wednesday, Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport was open for domestic flights following multiple Houthi strikes on the Saudi capital this month.