Indian Family’s Umrah Trip Ends in Tragedy After Houthi Attack on Riyadh Airport

Updated 7 min 8 sec ago

October 15, 2026 17:16

NEW DELHI: Mohammad Yousuf Ali and his elder son were buying juice near Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport when a projectile launched by Houthi militants struck the area. Both men were severely wounded and taken to hospital; Yousuf later died from his injuries.

“Yousuf died. One of his legs was completely cut and he died on the second day,” said his cousin and neighbor, Mohammad Akbar Hashmi, speaking to Arab News. He was among 13 people killed in the Oct. 10 attack, which also left around 300 others injured.

Yousuf Ali, a Hyderabad native and IT engineer who divided his time between Saudi Arabia and India, had planned the journey to take his entire family on their first Umrah. The trip was intended to commemorate his elder son’s recent admission to an engineering college and to give thanks for that achievement.

The family — the father, mother, two sons, daughter and aunt — were traveling for Umrah when the attack occurred. It was meant to be a celebration of the elder son’s success in passing his entrance exams.

“The Umrah was planned after his elder son took admission to the engineering college. It was a way of expressing gratitude towards God,” Hashmi said.

After the blast, the elder son remained in critical condition; doctors reported that both his kneecaps were replaced and his stomach was operated on because broken glass had penetrated the organ and touched his liver. He is expected to stay in hospital for another three weeks. He and his siblings have been informed of their father’s death.

The mother, two younger children, daughter and aunt sustained lighter injuries and have since been discharged. The wife, who did not require hospitalization, is stable and is caring for the children in the hospital.

“I cannot describe the state of shock to the whole family … They lost everything,” Hashmi added.

“This attack by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia is wrong; this is totally wrong. Targeting the civilian airport, malls … there is no justification for that.”

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