Fire, smoke seen near Aramco facility in Riyadh, witness says

Oct 3 (Reuters) – A large plume of smoke and fire was seen rising in the vicinity of an Aramco facility in Riyadh on Saturday, a witness told Reuters.

There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities about the fire. Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The fire comes amid escalating hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, who have stepped up attacks on Saudi cities and energy infrastructure.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday’s fire.

The Houthis said last week they had attacked Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu with missiles and drones. Saudi Arabia said at the time that it had intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards Taif and the Yanbu area, but did not report damage to Aramco facilities.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Toby Chopra)