Attack on King Fahd Airport in Dammam Kills Two, Injures Eight

Updated 10:40 UTC, Oct 22, 2026: Death toll rises to two, airport operations resume

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said on Thursday that the death toll from the Wednesday night attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam has risen to two, after an additional fatality was confirmed. The two people killed were a Saudi citizen and an Indian resident, the authority said.

The number of injured remains at eight. The authority said the injured are one Saudi citizen and residents of Indian, Yemeni, Bangladeshi and Nepalese nationality, two Indian, two Yemeni, two Bangladeshi and one Nepali resident in total, with injuries ranging from minor to critical. They are receiving care at several hospitals.

India's embassy in Riyadh said on X that Saudi authorities had told it one Indian national was among the two people killed and two Indian nationals were injured. The embassy said it was ascertaining further details and contacting the affected families.

The authority said it was working with security agencies to assess damage and check the safety of airport facilities. Airport operations have resumed and air traffic has returned to normal, it said.

**Updated 00:34 UTC.** Developing story.

One Saudi resident was killed and eight people were injured in an attack late on Wednesday, October 21, on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation announced the toll early on Thursday, local time. It said the airport suffered material damage and, in a separate statement reported by Reuters, said the damage was being assessed. The authority gave no further details and did not say who carried out the attack.

Flightradar24, a global flight tracking service, said on X that flights had been diverted away from the airport. Dammam sits on the Persian Gulf in eastern Saudi Arabia, near Bahrain and Qatar, and its airport serves the oil producing Eastern Province.

No claim for this attack

Authorities did not name a suspect. The Iran backed Houthis in Yemen, who have carried out a wider wave of missile and projectile strikes on major Saudi airports in recent weeks, had not commented on this attack, the Associated Press reported.

The Saudi led coalition said it intercepted four drone attacks in the eastern region. Officials did not link that announcement directly to the airport attack in the statements reported so far.

King Fahd airport has been attacked before during the current wave of strikes. The latest attack adds to a run of incidents at Saudi airports and energy sites that has raised fears of a wider escalation.

A second deadly incident the same day

Earlier on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said debris from an intercepted drone killed two people and injured two others at an oil field operated by Aramco in the southeast of the country.

The ministry said the two people killed were a Nepali national and a Filipino national. The two injured were a Pakistani national and an Indian national.

Late on Wednesday, the United States ordered some diplomats and the families of United States government employees to leave Saudi Arabia. The Associated Press linked the order to the series of deadly attacks in the country by the Houthis and to rising fears of an escalation in hostilities.

Last month, debris from an intercepted Houthi drone killed a Yemeni resident of Saudi Arabia. The Associated Press said it was the first civilian casualty since the Houthis stepped up attacks on the kingdom, targeting Saudi shipping and oil facilities. Earlier this month, a limited fire broke out in an administrative building at an Aramco facility in the Eastern Province that had been targeted in an attack, the Energy Ministry said at the time.

What is not yet known

Officials have not said what hit the airport, how the attack was carried out, or how long flight diversions will last. They have not released the name of the person killed or the condition of the eight injured.

This story will be updated as Saudi authorities, airlines and flight tracking services release confirmed information.