24 others injured; Dhaka slams attack
Updated : 12 October 2026, 02:54
Star Report
Two Bangladeshis were killed and 24 others critically injured in Saturday’s Houthi missile strike on Riyadh’s international airport.
According to the expatriates’ welfare ministry, three of them were undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit at King Abdullah hospital.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh is maintaining contact with hospitals to gather information about the injured and ensure their proper treatment.
Of them, 11 were on work visas, while the rest travelled to Saudi Arabia on Umrah visas, the ministry said.
Around 500 Bangladeshi passengers were stranded in Riyadh following the incident, the ministry added.
In another development, the foreign ministry strongly condemned the attack on the airport that left 12 dead.
“Bangladesh reiterates its firm solidarity with Saudi Arabia. It calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution of the ongoing crisis through dialogue and diplomacy,” the ministry said in a press release.
The two killed on Saturday are migrant worker Shahed Ahmed of Bogura and pilgrim Hafiz Mufti Mohammad Nasrullah of Cumilla.
After being away from home for two straight years, Shahed had returned to his village in Bogura to spend a month with his wife and two sons.
Shahed had been working as a plumber in Jeddah since 2013, reports our Bogura correspondent.
On Friday, the 36-year-old Bangladeshi left for Saudi Arabia to resume his work.
Shortly after landing at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, he called his wife around 5:30pm (BST) to let her know he had reached safely.
It was the last time she would hear his voice.
Shahed is survived by his wife Kohinoor Akhter Kakoli, 26, and their two sons, Abdullah, 6, and Kawsar, 11, said his cousin, Masum Rana.
His relatives urged the government to take immediate steps to bring his body home and provide his family with financial assistance.
Another deceased, Nasrullah, of Cumilla’s Nangalkot upazila, was travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah and was waiting at the Riyadh airport for a connecting flight when the attack took place, said his brother-in-law, Mohammad Nasir Uddin.
The 35-year-old was the assistant deputy director, or assistant muhtamim, of Jamia Arabia Darul Uloom Madrasa in Kamrangirchar, Dhaka.
He left behind his wife and three children, reports our Cumilla correspondent.
SITUATION ON THE GROUND
Around 3.5 million Bangladeshis live in Saudi Arabia, one of the major destinations for Bangladeshi migrant workers. Many Bangladeshis also travel to the country regularly to perform Umrah and Hajj.
Amid “restrictions on media coverage”, Bangladeshis living in and around Riyadh face difficulty in keeping track of what is going on.
After the Saturday’s strike, schools have stopped in-person classes, while government, semi-government, and private offices have allowed employees to work from home.
“It was only then that we realised something had happened. Apart from that, there is no panic among the Bangladeshi community,” a Bangladeshi expatriate living in Riyadh told The Daily Star over the phone.
Bangladeshis living in the city said traffic has also decreased, partly because educational institutions have moved classes online.
Uncertainty is growing, especially among those planning to return home, as several flights have reportedly been cancelled, they said.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam yesterday said the government was working to identify all the Bangladeshi victims and collect information about their families.
Bangladesh’s diplomatic missions across the region are maintaining contact with expatriates and providing guidance to help ensure their safety, she said.
At least 14 Bangladeshis have been killed amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, Shama said while responding to a query at her ministry.