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The people’s newsroom

PolicyIndians abroad

Indian embassy in Riyadh tells nationals to shelter indoors as drone attacks continue

The advisory asks Indians in Saudi Arabia to follow local safety alerts, avoid filming incidents and keep away from bridges and tall buildings when driving.

From the editorial desk · RiyadhPublished
The Embassy of India in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (file photo)
The Embassy of India in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (file photo)Photo: B.alotaby / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Key points

  1. Indians in Saudi Arabia have been told to shelter indoors and keep away from windows.
  2. Motorists should stop away from bridges and high-rise buildings during alerts.
  3. Emergency numbers are 911 in Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah and the Eastern Province, and 998 elsewhere.

The Indian Embassy in Riyadh has told Indian nationals in Saudi Arabia to follow the kingdom’s safety directives closely, as Houthi drone and missile attacks on Saudi cities continue.

The advisory, updated on Sunday evening, asks Indians to shelter indoors during alerts and stay away from windows and open areas. It tells them not to film incidents and to rely on official alerts for information. Anyone driving when an alert sounds should stop away from bridges and high-rise buildings.

The embassy listed 911 as the emergency number in Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province, and 998 for other parts of the country.

Attacks keep coming

The warning follows weeks of strikes claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. On 10 October, a drone and missile attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed an Indian national and injured several others.

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it had intercepted and destroyed four drones over Riyadh, the Eastern Province and southern regions. Separately, the Saudi-led coalition said two crew members were killed when a reconnaissance helicopter crashed in the Najran region because of a technical fault.

The attacks have spread across the region. In Yemen, the Houthis claimed a strike on Aden International Airport on Friday in which two missiles landed about 500 metres from a Yemenia Airways plane waiting to leave for Cairo. Yemen’s information minister said passengers and crew were safe.

The situation in West Asia is expected to dominate External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s talks in Mumbai on Monday and Tuesday with the UAE’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The documents