Nine killed in Riyadh blast

2004-04-21 20:15

Riyadh - A suicide attacker and a police officer were among at least nine killed and dozens injured on Wednesday when at least one powerful car bomb exploded outside Saudi police headquarters, police and hospital officials said.

Façades were torn off buildings at the site, revealing rooms ablaze. Cars parked nearby had been smashed by debris.

Clouds of dust and black smoke rose from the building and settled over the neighbourhood.

The capital had been tense after a series of clashes between police and suspected Muslim militants and a United States warning of possible terror attacks.

A terse Saudi interior ministry statement said attackers tried to drive one vehicle into the building, which housed the headquarters of Riyadh's traffic department in addition to the general security headquarters.

A number of charred bodies

"The driver exploded the car 30 metres away from the headquarters' gate," said the interior ministry.

While the statement referred to just one car bomb, a police official said earlier "the explosion resulted from two car bombs that were parked about 15 metres away from the building."

He said "a number of charred bodies" was carried away from the scene.

The official said the blasts appeared to have resulted from suicide attacks and that one attacker died. One police officer was also killed. The official said the injured included the general director of Riyadh's traffic department.

Officials from the three hospitals in Riyadh where the casualties were taken said at least nine police officers and civilians were killed and at least 125 were injured.

Rescue workers were still going through the rubble to recover bodies and survivors.

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah visited the wounded, including one young man who was unconscious and on a respirator and another who wore camouflage.

Conference on terrorism

The United States last week ordered the departure of nonessential US government employees and family members from Saudi Arabia.

It also urged private citizens to leave the kingdom, and the US embassy in Riyadh issued an advisory warning of "credible indications of terrorist threats aimed at American and Western interests in Saudi Arabia".

Wednesday's attack came one day after a state-sponsored conference on terrorism was inaugurated in Riyadh.

- AP