Istanbul airport attack killed 2, injured 25 Saudis: envoy

Saudi’s ambassador to Turkey, Adel Mirdad, told Al Arabiya News Channel on Wednesday that the suicide bombing in Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport has killed two Saudis and injured 25 others from the kingdom, with one citizen so far considered “missing.”

Three suicide bombers opened fire at passengers with automatic rifles before blowing themselves up at Turkey’s biggest airport on Tuesday night, killing at least 41 people and wounding 239.

Mirdad initially said six Saudis including four women were killed in the attack, but later he reduced the number to only two Saudis killed after Turkish authorities corrected the death toll.

He also said “there was no evidence,” relating to the reported deaths of five other Saudis, so they were listed as “missing” for the time being. But later, he said four were found with one person still missing.

The ambassador wished “swift recovery” for the injured, saying Saudi Arabia vehemently denounces the targeting of “innocent lives.”

A Turkish official on Wednesday said an Iranian and a Ukrainian have been confirmed as the first foreign victims in the Istanbul airport suicide attack.